^^^  OF  pmferfo; 

MAR  Hisea 


ADDRESSES  DELIVERED 
AT  THE  FORTIETH 
ANNIVERSARY  OF  TH] 
BOARDS  OF  HOME 
MISSIONS,  FOREIGN 
MISSIONS  AND  CHURCH 
EXTENSION  OF  THE 
GENERAL  SYNOD   OF 
THE  EVANGELICAL 
LUTHERAN  CHURCH,  AT 
HARRISBURG,  PA.,  APRIL 
THE  T^VENTY-SEVENTH 
TWENTY-EIGHTH  AND 
TWENTY-NINTH, 
NINETEEN  HUNDRED 
NINE 


PRESS   OF 

THE   LUTHERAN   PUBLICATION   SOCIETY 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Copyright.  1909 

BY    THE 

LUTHERAN   PUBLICATION   SOCIETY. 


THE  BOARDS 

FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

Luther  Kuhlman,  D.  D.,  President;  Ezra  K.  Bell,  D.  D.,  Vice- 
President  ;  Henry  C.  Hines,  Treasurer  ;  J.  A.  Singmaster,  D.  D.,  J. 
S.  Simon,  D.  D.,  O.  C.  Roth,  D.  D.,  I.  C.  Burke,  D.  D.,  Mr, 
Charles  A.  Kunkel,  Mr.  Samuel  F.  Ziegler. 

L.  B.  Wolf,  D.  D.,  General  Secretary. 

HOME  MISSIONS 

G.  W.  Enders,  D.  D.,  President;  L.  M.  Zimmerman,  D.  D.,  Vice- 
President;  Jacob  A.  Clutz,  D.  D.,  Treasurer;  Rev,  P.  A.  Heilman, 
Rev.  J.  Bradley  Mark  ward,  D.  D.,  Mr.  Edward  Helb,  Mr.  J.  D. 
Zouck,  Mr.  J.  W,  Houck,  Hon.  John  Hubner. 

A.  Stewart  Hartman,  D.  D.,  General  Secretary  ;  Rev.  S.  J.  McDowell 
and  Luther  P.  Ludden,  D.  D.,  Field  Secretaries. 

CHURCH  EXTENSION 

William  S.  Freas,  D.  D.,  President  ;  Mr.  M.  B.  Spahr,  Vice-Presi- 
dent;  B.  F.  Alleman,  D.  D.,  Clinton  E.  Walter,  D.  D.,  William  E. 
Stabler,  D.  D.,  Arthur  King,  A.  M.,  Mr.  J,  A.  Dempwolf,  Mr.  G.  P. 
Smyser,  George  E.  Neff,  Esq. 

H.  H.  Weber,  D.  D.,  General  Secretary  and  Treasurer;  H.  L. 
Yarger,  D.  D.,  Field  Secretary. 

Committees  for  the  Fortieth  Aimiversary  Jubilee 

HOME  MISSION  BOARD 

J.  A.  Clutz,  D.  D.,  A.  Stewart  Hartman,  D.  D.,  Mr.  J.  D.  Zouck, 

FOREIGN  MISSION  BOARD 
Ezra  K.  Bell,   D.  D.,  L,  B,  Wolf,  D.  D.,  Mr.  Charles  A,  Kunkel, 

CHURCH  EXTENSION  BOARD 

William  S.  Freas,  D.  D.,  H.  H.  Weber,  D.  D.,  Arthur  King,  A.  M. 

OFFICERS 

Ezra  K.  Bell,  D.  D.,  Chairman  ;    H,  H,  Weber,  D.  D,,  Secretary 

and  Treasurer. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

A.  Stewart  Hartman,  D.  D.,  L.  B.  Wolf,  D.  D.,  H.  H.  Weber,  D.  D, 

Committtee  Harrisburg  Ministerial  Association 

Rev.  S.  Winfield  Herman,  Chairman  ;  E.  D.  Weigle,  D.  D., 
Walter  Miller,  D.  D. 


THE  PROGRAM 

(As  rendered  with  paging  added.) 


TUESDAY,  APRIL  27, 1909 

(afternoon,  2  o'clock) 

In  Zion  tutheran  Church,  S.  W.  OWEN.  D.  D..  President  of  the  General  Synod, 
General  Presiding  Officer 

Greetings 

The  Hon.  Edwin  S.  Stuart,  LL.  D.,  Governor  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  Hon.  E.  S.  Meals,  Mayor  of  Harrisburg,  Pa. 

The  General  Ministerial  Association  of  Harrisburg,  Pa. 

The  Lutheran  Ministerial  Association  of  Harrisburg  and  Vicinity. 

The  Woman's  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 

Historical  Sketches 

By  L.  B.  Wolf,  D.  D.      .  .  .  .  .     Page    13 

By  A.  Stewart  Hartman,  D.  D.     .  .  .  Page      9 

By  H.  H.  Weber,  D.  D.  .  .  .  .     Page  273 


TUESDAY  EVENING 

In  Zion  Lutheran  Church,  E.  D.  WEIGLE,  D.  D.,  Presiding 

Addresses  by  Representatives  of  the  Boards 

"  Retrospect  and  Prospect "     ....  Page    25 

J.  A.  Clutz,  D.  D. 

*•  The  Evangelization  of  the  World"         .  .  .     Page  151 

J.  A.  SiNGMASTER,  D.  D. 

"  The  Commander  and  Commission  "  .  .  .  Page  295 

W.  E.  STABLER,  D.  D. 

Social  Feature  in  Lecture  Room — Ladies'  Night 


WEDNESDAY  MORNING 

In  Zion  Lutheran  Church,  ARTHUR  KING.  A.  M..  Presiding 

"  The  Broader  Vision  and  Its  Realization  "  .  .     Page  195 

C.  W.  Heisler,  D.  D. 

"  The  Christian  Civilization  of  Our  Country  "  .  Page    89 

J.  M.  Reimensnyder,  D.  D. 

"  The  Relation  of  Church  Extension  to  Home  Missions  "   .     Page  305 
J.  M.  Francis,  D.  D. 

"The  Lutheran  Church  and  World-wide  Evangelization "       Page  179 

D.  H.  Bauslin,  D.  D. 


WEDNESDAY  AFTERNOON 

REV.  P.  A.  HEILMAN,  Presiding 

"  Enthusiasm  for  Home  Missions  "  .  .  .     Page  105 

H.  G.  Dattan,  D.  D. 

"  The  Work  in  Our  Cities  "      ....  Page  317 

J.  J.  Young,  D.  D. 

"The  Development  of  the  Home  Church  in  Foreign  Mis- 
sions     ......  Page  225 

W.  H.  Dunbar,  D.  D. 
"  The  Vantage-Ground  of  the  Lutheran  Church  "  .     Page    47 

Ezra  K.  Bell,  D.  D. 

"The  Possibilities  of  Our  Church  Extension  Work      .  Page  333 

E.  H.  Delk,  D.  D. 

WEDNESDAY  EVENING 

In  Bethlehem  Lutheran  Church,  L.  P.  LUDDEN,  D.  D.,  Presiding 

Addresses  by  Presidents  of  the  Boards 

"Church  Extension  and  Church  Development"  Page  281 

W.  S.  Freas,  D.  D. 

"The  Modern  Spirit  of  World-Evangelization  "  .  Page  163 

Luther  Kuhlman,  D.  D. 

"  A  General  Survey "         .....     Page    37 
G.  W.  Enders,  D.  D. 


THURSDAY  MORNING 

In  Zion  Lutheran  Church,  O.  C.  ROTH,  D.  D.,  Presiding 

"  Missions  and  Civilization  "    ....  Page  209 

L.  S.  Keyser,  D.  D. 

"  The  Unbalanced  Ledgers  of  Home  Missions "    .  .     Page    73 

Rev.  Ellis  B.  Burgess. 

"The  Absolute  Need  of  the  House  of  God  "  .  .  Page  349 

Rev.  Clarence  E.  Gardner. 

"  Missionary  Heroes  "        .....     Page  247 
Rev.  J.  T.  Huddle. 

"A  Missionary  Hero — David  A.  Day,  D.  D."  .  Page  261 

George  Scroll,  D.  D. 


THURSDAY  AFTERNOON 

L.  M.  ZIMMERMAN,  D.  D.,  Presiding 

*' Church  Architecture  "     .....     Page  363 
W.  E.  Fischer,  D.  D. 

"  Inspiration  for  Conquest  "     ....  Page  119 

S.  P.  Long,  D.  D. 

"The  Apologetic  Value  of  Foreign  Missions"        .  .     Page  237 

H.  C.  Alleman,  D.  D. 

"  Work  in  the  Suburbs  "  ....  Page  375 

A.  J.  TURKLE,  D.  D. 

"  Home  Missions  and  World-wide  Evangelization"  .     Page    59 

C.  S.  Albert,  D.  D. 


THURSDAY  EVENING 

In  Board  of  Trade,  S.  W.  OWEN,  D.  D.,  Presiding 

Collation  and  Impromptu  Addresses— Men's  Night 


THE  ANNIVERSARY 


On  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  April,  Nineteen 
Hundred  and  Nine,  the  Boards  of  Foreign  Missions, 
Home  Missions  and  Church  Extension  assembled  in 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  to  celebrate  the  fortieth  anniver- 
sary of  their  establishment  and  organization.  The 
meetings  were  attended  by  large  numbers  of  our 
ministers  from  far  and  near,  while  the  good  people 
of  Harrisburg  and  vicinity  manifested  deep  interest 
both  by  their  attendance  upon  the  meetings  and  by 
the  courtesies  shown  the  speakers  and  representa- 
tives of  the  Boards.  The  local  pastors  and  the  Men's 
Social  Union  anticipated  every  need  and  did  much 
to  make  the  anniversary'  a  success.  The  greetings 
of  the  Governor  and  of  the  Mayor,  of  the  Minis- 
terial Association  and  of  the  representative  of  the 
Woman's  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
were  most  cordial  and  apropos.  The  addresses  were 
received  with  deep  interest  and  expressions  of 
hearty  appreciation.      The    enthusiasm   awakened 

was  cumulative.     The  program  was  fully  carried 

(vii) 


Vni  THE   ANNIVERSARY. 

out,  and  not  one  speaker  of  the  thirty  who  promised 
to  attend  failed  to  respond.  The  addresses  were 
unique,  marked  by  originality  of  thought  and  ex- 
pression, and  covered  a  wide  range  of  subjects. 
They  are  published  that  the  Church  throughout 
the  land  may  be  edified  by  them.  While  the  flash 
of  the  speaker's  eye  and  the  intensity  of  his  person- 
ality may  be  missing,  still  these  addresses  cannot 
fail  to  interest  greatly  all  who  are  in  any  way 
awake  to  the  opportunity  and  the  duty  of  the  day 
in  which  we  live  and  in  which  we  must  do  our 
work. 

E.  K.  B. 


HOME  MISSIONS 
I 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


HOME  MISSIONS. 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

A.    STEWART    HARTMAN^    D.D. 

Nearly  three  centuries  have  elapsed  since  Luth- 
eran people  came  to  the  shores  of  America  and  be- 
gan the  work  of  planting  the  Church  of  their  faith. 
Dutch  Lutherans  in  New  Amsterdam  and  Swedish 
Lutherans  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  in  the  first 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  were  the  heroic 
pioneers  in  laying  the  foundations  of  their  Church  in 
the  new  world. 

Through  the  long  period  of  nearly  a  century  and 
a  quarter  that  intervened  between  the  first  settle- 
ment of  Lutherans  on  Manhattan  Island,  now  New 
York,  to  the  coming  of  Rev.  Henry  Melchior  Muhl- 
enberg, recognized  as  the  patriarch  of  Lutheranism 
in  America,  the  scattered  adherents  of  the  Lutheran 
faith,  who  were  few  and  poor,  encountered  almost 
insuperable  obstacles  in  maintaining  their  ecclesi- 
astical existence  and  in  sustaining  and  extending 
their  organizations. 

From  the  advent  of  Muhlenberg  on  the  scene,  in 


12  HOME    MISSIONS. 

1742,  up  to  the  organization  of  the  General  Synod 
in  1820,  the  work  of  caring  for  the  scattered  and 
needy  of  our  Lutheran  family  went  forward  more 
hopefully  and  with  a  larger  measure  of  progress. 

During  all  these  years,  from  the  earliest  begin- 
nings, the  fathers  had  a  deep  sense  of  the  urgent 
need  and  imperative  importance  of  missionary  ef- 
fort among  the  spiritually  destitute  of  their  brethren 
in  the  faith,  in  the  widely-separated  communities  in 
which  they  had  located,  and  earnest  attempts  were 
made,  at  much  sacrifice,  to  provide  for  them  the 
means  of  grace.  But  because  it  was  impossible  at 
that  day  to  prosecute  the  work  in  an  organized  way, 
it  necessarily  devolved  upon  individual  pastors,  or 
churches,  or  later  on  District  Synods,  to  undertake 
and  accomplish  this  Home  Mission  work. 

On  this  account  it  was  quite  limited  in  extent, 
largely  of  a  desultory,  and  frequently  of  a  tempo- 
rary and  ineffective  character.  However,  it  must 
be  said  that  by  these  early  pioneer  efforts  the 
foundations  of  our  Lutheran  Church  were  laid  in 
many  sections  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  notably 
in  the  States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Virginia,  and  even  in  States  farther  south. 

After  the  organization  of  the  General  Synod,  in 
1820,  under  the  inspiration  of  the  urgent  need  of 
a  more  effective  system  of  Home  Mission  opera- 
tions, active  steps  were  promptly  taken  looking  to 
the  devising  of  plans  for  "missionary  institutions," 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  1 3 

by  which  was  evidently  contemplated  the  organiza- 
tion of  agencies  which  were  deemed  desirable  and 
necessary  for  the  wise  direction  and  effective  ad- 
ministration of  missionary  operations  in  the  Church. 

In  addition  to  the  methods  above  referred  to, 
some  of  the  District  Synods,  then  organized,  had 
adopted  the  plan  of  sending  out  annually  one  or  two 
missionaries  on  preaching  tours  among  the  vacant 
pastorates  or  the  religiously  destitute  communities 
in  various  parts  of  the  country,  to  minister  to  them ; 
the  cost  of  such  special  Home  Mission  work  being 
provided  for  out  of  the  Synodical  treasuries,  or 
by  special  gifts.  But  as  their  operations  were  quite 
limited,  no  special  organization  was  required  to  con- 
duct them. 

Unfortunately,  the  proposition  contemplating  a 
stronger  and  more  effective  organization  of  the 
Church  for  missionary  endeavor  encountered  a  very 
decided  and  even  bitter  opposition  on  the  part  of  a 
considerable  number  of  the  members  of  the  General 
Synod,  and  it  was  not  found  desirable  to  press  the 
matter.  This  antagonism  was  due  to  the  strong 
sentiment  that  prevailed  against  the  centralization 
of  authority  in  Synods,  or  in  organizations  created 
by  them  and  empowered  to  act  as  their  representa- 
tives, such  as  committees  or  boards.  Such  methods 
were  characterized  as  "ecclesiastical  tyranny,"  in 
order  to  make  them  appear  especially  obnoxious  to 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  laity  of  the  Church,  and  it 


14  HOME   MISSIONS. 

was  found  necessary  to  abandon,  for  the  time  being, 
these  proposed  "missionary  institutions."  Conse- 
quently nothing  of  a  definite  or  practical  character 
in  the  way  of  an  organized  effort  to  prosecute  the 
Home  Mission  work  of  the  Church,  under  the  aus- 
pices and  by  the  direction  of  the  General  Synod, 
was  undertaken  until  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century 
later. 

In  the  year  1833  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the 
General  Synod  declaring  that  great  spiritual  destitu- 
tion prevailed  among  our  Lutheran  people  in  vari- 
ous places,  and  urging  the  District  Synods  to  take 
steps  to  meet  their  needs.  At  the  same  time  it  au- 
thorized the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  gather 
and  publish  information  to  aid  the  Synods  to  ac- 
complish that  work.  The  committee  was  appointed, 
in  accordance  with  that  action,  but  it  seems  never 
made  a  report. 

Two  years  later,  in  1835,  the  General  Synod 
recommended  that  each  District  Synod  appoint  a 
member  of  an  Executive  Committee  to  arrange 
some  feasible  method  of  accomplishing  Home  Mis- 
sion work,  hoping  in  that  way  to  promote  greater 
unity  and  fuller  co-operation  in  its  prosecution. 
But,  with  a  single  exception,  the  Synods  failed  to 
make  such  an  appointment,  and  the  committee  was 
never  constituted. 

At  that  same  convention,  action  was  also  taken 
recommending  the  holding  of  a  missionary  conven- 


^HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  1 5 

tion  at  Mechanicsburg,  Pa.,  and  this  convention  was 
accordingly  held  and  resulted  in  the  organization 
of  what  was  called  the  "Central  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United 
States." 

The  chief  purpose  of  this  organization  was  to 
send  missionaries  to  the  destitute  portions  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  the  United  States.  Its  mem- 
bership was  not  representative  of  the  General  Synod, 
but  was  altogether  personal  and  composed  of  con- 
tributors to  its  funds.  It  had  a  Board  of  Directors, 
and  an  Executive  Committee,  the  latter  of  which 
was  empowered  to  ''appoint  missionaries"  and 
"agents,"  and  to  "collect  and  appropriate  funds." 

It  also  contemplated  and  actually  undertook  the 
establishing  of  "a  system  of  societies  throughout 
the  Church/'  But  the  society  has  not  transmitted 
to  posterity  a  record  of  its  work,  and  it  seems  its 
career  was  short  and  uneventful,  and  it  passed 
quickly  and  peacefully  away  without  having  either 
helped  or  hindered  much  the  cause  of  Home  Mis- 
sions. 

Upon  the  death  of  this  hopeful  movement,  for 
which  the  unwillingness  of  the  Synods  to  co-operate 
wnth  it  was  responsible,  all  effort  to  inaugurate  any 
forward  movement  in  behalf  of  missions  was  chilled 
and  repressed  until  eight  years  later.  In  the  re- 
port on  the  State  of  the  Church,  made  to  the  Gen- 
eral Synod  in   1843,  it  was  emphatically  declared 


1 6  HOME   MISSIONS. 

that,  "Much  apathy  prevails  throughout  the  Church 
generally  on  the  subject" ;  but  the  statement 
brought  forth  no  fruitage  at  that  time.  However, 
at  the  subsequent  convention  in  1845,  held  in  Phila- 
delphia, the  growing  sentiment  in  regard  to  the 
necessity  of  adopting  some  plan  of  meeting  more 
satisfactorily  the  earnest  cry  of  need  that  kept  on 
sounding  in  the  ear  of  the  Church  crystallized  in  the 
formation  of  the  "Home  Missionary  Society  of  the 
General  Synod." 

This  society  was  the  direct  outcome  of  a  recom- 
mendation made  by  the  Committee  on  the  State  of 
the  Church,  and  had  a  constitution  and  a  plan  of 
operation  prepared  by  a  committee  appointed  by 
the  General  Synod.  It  was  called  a  society  of  the 
General  Synod,  yet  it  was  an  organization  outside 
of  the  General  Synod  and  not  controlled  by  it.  As 
its  active  membership  was  constituted  of  those  who 
paid  annual  membership  fees  of  $1.00,  or  those 
who  paid  $10.00  for  life  membership,  consequently, 
it  was  not  a  representative  body,  and  held  no  valid 
authority  to  act  for  the  Church  as  a  whole,  or  to 
ask  the  co-operation  of  the  Church. 

This  society  acted  under  its  original  constitution 
until  1866,  when  the  constitution  was  amended  so 
as  to  make  the  society  more  representative  of  the 
General  Synod  and  the  entire  Church.  Under  the 
amended  constitution  there  were  three  kinds  of 
members :    First,  all  delegates  of  the  General  Synod 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  1 7 

from  Synods  co-operating;  second,  all  ministers, 
with  their  congregations,  in  Synods  co-operating; 
and  third,  all  life  members. 

This  society  continued  in  existence  under  this 
amended  constitution,  until  1869,  when  at  the  con- 
vention of  the  General  Synod  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
that  body  decided  to  assume  entire  control  of  its 
Home  Mission  affairs,  and  it  adopted  the  plan  by 
which  it  commits  to  a  committee  or  Board,  as  its  rep- 
resentative, the  entire  direction  and  administration  of 
the  work  of  Home  Missions.  That  Board  is  the  agent 
of  the  whole  Church  and  not  a  part  of  it,  and  is 
entrusted  and  charged  with  the  duty  and  respon- 
sibility of  administering  the  work  of  Home  Mis- 
sions for  the  whole  Church.  It  is  authorized  to 
receive  the  contributions  of  the  entire  Church  and 
to  administer  them  in  the  interests  of  that  work 
over  the  whole  field,  as  there  may  be  most  urgent 
need  and  most  favorable  opportunity,  without  re- 
gard to  Synodical  bounds,  or  the  measure  of  Synod- 
ical  contributions.  Wherever  the  opportunity  for 
remunerative  and  effective  work  is  the  greatest,  and 
wherever  the  need  of  the  Church  and  the  means  of 
grace  are  the  most  urgent,  there  is  the  field,  having 
the  first  claim  on  the  Board  for  aid,  and  should  have 
precedure  in  occupancy  wherever  they  may  be. 

This  system  of  administration  which  has  now 
been  in  operation  for  forty  years  has  been  attended 
with  most  gratifying  results,  and  has  fully  vindi- 


1 8  HOME   MISSIONS. 

cated  the  wisdom  of  the  fathers  of  a  generation  ago, 
who  adopted  it.  This  plan  has  the  special  merit,  in 
the  first  place,  of  promoting  the  occupancy  of  the 
vast  and  ever-widening  Home  Mission  field  of  our 
Church,  in  a  more  equitable  and  harmonious  way, 
than  could  otherwise  be  done;  in  the  second  place, 
being  sustained  in  its  work  by  the  whole  Church, 
it  is  able  to  meet  more  promptly  and  more  largely 
the  urgent  calls  for  help  that  come  to  it,  and  also 
maintain  the  work  which  it  inaugurates  and  sup- 
ports, and  protect  it  from  discouragement  and  dis- 
aster. 

The  fact,  that  the  Board  is  appointed  by  the 
General  Synod,  the  representative  body  of  all  the 
Synods  connected  therewith,  itself  implies  that  the 
Board  is  for  the  whole  Church  and  really  sustains 
no  direct  relation  to  the  District  Synods,  and  is  in 
no  sense  under  their  control. 

The  action  of  the  General  Synod,  which  is  a 
part  of  its  fundamental  law,  relating  to  the  adoption 
of  the  present  system,  authorizes  and  empowers  the 
Board  to  make  the  rules  necessary  to  the  manage- 
ment of  its  own  affairs,  to  elect  its  own  officers, 
and  employ  such  methods  and  agencies  as  in  its 
judgment  will  best  promote  the  efficiency  and  suc- 
cess of  the  work  committed  to  it;  to  keep  a  record 
of  the  proceedings  of  its  meetings,  and  to  make  a 
biennial  report  of  the  work  accomplished  to  each 
convention  of  the  General  Synod. 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  1 9 

The  first  Board  under  the  present  system,  was 
appointed  by  the   General   Synod   at   Washington, 

D.  C,  on  Tuesday,  May  i8th,  1869,  and  was  com- 
posed of  the  following  members  : 

Revs.  A.  H.  Lochman,  D.D.,  W.  M.  Baum,  D.D., 
A.  W.  Lilly,  M.  Officer,  J.  H.  Menges,  and  Messrs. 

E.  G.  Smyser  and  Daniel  Kraber,  all  of  York,  Pa., 
except  Rev.  M.  Officer. 

The  Board  met  on  June  3d  following,  and  organ- 
ized by  the  election  of  Rev.  A.  H.  Lochman,  D.D.,  as 
President;  Rev.  M.  Officer,  Secretary,  and  E.  G. 
Smyser,  Esq.,  Treasurer. 

The  missions  supported  by  the  Home  Missionary 
Society,  of  which  there  were  sixteen,  and  those  sup- 
ported by  the  District  Synods,  of  which  there  were 
twenty-one,  namely :  four  from  the  Susquehanna 
Synod,  two  from  the  Central  Pennsylvania  Synod, 
one  from  the  Central  Illinois  Synod,  one  from  the 
East  Ohio  Synod,  four  from  the  East  Pennsylvania 
Synod,  two  from  the  New  York  Synod,  two  from 
the  Pittsburgh  Synod,  one  from  the  Alleghany 
Synod,  one  from  the  New  Jersey  Synod,  and  three 
from  the  West  Pennsylvania  Synod,  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  Board. 

During  the  first  biennium  thirteen  new  fields  were 
undertaken,  making  the  whole  number  receiving  aid 
in  the  first  two  years,  under  the  new  system  of  ad- 
ministration, fifty. 

The  Board  was  reappointed,  with  few  changes, 


20  HOME   MISSIONS. 

at  seven  successive  conventions  of  the  General 
Synod,  and  thus  its  location  was  continued  at  York 
from  1869  until  1883.  During  those  fourteen  years 
the  membership  of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions 
and  Church  Extension  was  practically  identical,  al- 
though officered  differently,  except  that  they  had 
the  same  Secretary, 

Rev.  Morris  Officer  resigned  the  General  Secre- 
taryship in  June,  1871.  On  July  3d  following,  Rev. 
J.  W.  Goodlin  was  elected  as  his  successor,  and 
entered  upon  his  duties  on  August  ist.  He  re- 
mained in  the  service  of  the  Board  as  Secretary 
until  1883. 

The  office  of  Western  Secretary  was  created 
in  1881,  and  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Barnitz,  D.D.,  was 
elected  to  fill  it.  He  continued  to  occupy  the  posi- 
tion until  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  on 
June  1 2th,  1902,  a  period  of  nearly  twenty-one 
years. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  General  Synod  at  Spring- 
field, Ohio,  in  May,  1883,  the  membership  of  the 
Board  was  largely  changed,  and  the  general  office 
of  the  Board  was  transferred  from  York,  Pa.,  to 
Baltimore,  Md. 

The  persons  elected  at  that  time  to  constitute  the 
Board  were  the  following :  Revs.  C.  S.  Albert,  M. 
W.  Hamma,  D.D.,  J.  C.  Roller,  A.  Stewart  Hart- 
man,  H.  W.  Kuhns,  and  Messrs.  Charles  S.  Weiser, 
J.  W.  Rice,  L.  Z.  Doll,  and  W.  M.  Kemp,  M.D. 


HISTORICAI,  SKETCH.  21 

Rev.  Charles  S.  Albert  was  elected  President; 
Rev.  Jacob  A.  Clutz,  General  Secretary;  Rev.  S.  B. 
Barnitz,  Western  Secretary,  and  Mr.  Charles  S. 
Weiser,  Treasurer. 

The  location  of  the  Board  has  remained  in  Balti- 
more to  the  present  time,  a  period  of  twenty-six 
years.  The  membership  has,  however,  entirely 
changed,  and  none  of  those  appointed  in  1883  are 
now  members ;  five  of  them :  Revs.  J.  C.  Koller, 
D.D.,  H.  W.  Kuhns,  D.D.,  Messrs.  J.  W.  Rice, 
L.  Z.  Doll,  and  W.  M.  Kemp,  M.D.,  have  departed 
this  life.  Two  others,  Revs.  M.  W.  Hamma,  D.D., 
and  C.  S.  Albert,  D.D.,  have  removed  from  Balti- 
more. C.  S.  Weiser,  Esq.,  declined  reappointment, 
and  A.  Stewart  Hartman  became  General  Secretary 
in  1889,  and  has  continued  to  fill  that  office  to  the 
present  time. 

After  the  death  of  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Barnitz,  D.D., 
in  1902,  the  Board  decided  to  create  the  position  of 
Field  Secretary,  instead  of  Western  Secretary,  and 
divide  the  whole  field  into  as  many  districts  as 
might  be  deemed  necessary,  giving  each  Secretary 
supervision  over  a  district.  The  field  was  divided 
into  three  districts  in  accordance  with  this  plan :  the 
Eastern,  the  Central  and  the  Western.  While  the 
whole  field  is  under  the  general  superintendence  of 
the  General  Secretary,  the  Field  Secretaries  are 
given  immediate  supervision  of  their  respective  dis- 
tricts.     Under  this  method   of  supervision  of  the 


22  HOME    MISSIONS. 

work,  Rev.  S.  J.  McDowell  was  elected  Field  Sec- 
retary of  the  Central  District,  with  headquarters 
at  Springfield,  Ohio,  and  Rev.  L.  P.  Ludden,  D.D., 
of  the  Western  District,  with  headquarters  at  Lin- 
coln, Neb. 

In  closing  this  brief  sketch  of  the  work  of  Home 
Missions  in  the  General  Synod,  especially  during  the 
forty  years  that  have  transpired  since  the  adoption 
of  the  present  system  of  administration,  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  Board,  it  may  be  desirable  to  give 
a  few  facts  and  figures  that  will  reveal  at  a  glance 
the  character  and  extent  of  the  work  that  has  been 
accomplished  during  these  four  fruitful  decades. 

The  twenty-fourth  convention  of  the  General 
Synod  held  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  May  13th  to  20th, 
1869,  was  in  many  respects  the  most  eventful  and 
epoch-making  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  It 
marked,  in  a  large  measure,  at  least,  the  closing  of 
the  era  of  individualism  and  Synodical  independence 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  great  benevolent  enter- 
prises of  the  Church,  which  had  retarded  the  pos- 
sible splendid  progress  of  the  Church  in  many  lines 
of  endeavor,  and  actually  brought  serious  loss  and 
disaster  to  many  of  its  agencies ;  and  it  inaugurated 
a  new  regime  of  unity  and  co-operation  in  admin- 
istering the  work  of  the  Church,  and  instituted  a 
policy  of  centralization  of  its  forces  and  resources 
under  the  direction  and  control  of  its  appointed  rep- 
resentatives, which  have  so  greatly  contributed  to 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 


23 


its  growth  and  prosperity.  At  that  memorable  con- 
vention our  present  "Formula  of  Church  Discipline 
and  Government"  was  adopted  and  also  "The  Order 
of  Public  Worship/'  known  as  the  "Washington 
Service."  The  influence  of  both  these  acts  had  a 
most  salutary  effect  on  the  whole  Church ;  the  for- 
mer promoting  a  more  intelligible  and  effective  or- 
ganization of  our  churches,  and  the  latter  a  more 
churchly  and  a  more  uniform  order  of  worship. 

In  the  sphere  of  Home  Mission  activity,  the  fol- 
lowing summary  will  suffice  to  reveal  the  character 
and  extent  of  the  achievements  in  that  department 
of  effort. 


Statement  of  the  Work  from  May,  1869,  to  May,  1909. 


1869-1871 
1871-1873 
1873-1875 
1875-1877 
1877-1879 
1879-1881 


1887-1889 
1889-1891 
1891-1893 
1893-1895 
1895-1897 
1897-1899 
1899-1901 
1901-1903 
1903-1905 
190S-1907 
1907-1909 


Placb  of 

Meeting  of 

General  Synod. 


Dayton,  Ohio 

Canton,  Ohio 

Baltimore,  Md .... 

Carthage,  111 

Wooster,  Ohio 

Altoona,  Pa 

Springfield,  Ohio. . 
Harrisburg,  Pa.. . . 

Omaha,  Neb 

Allegheny,  Pa 

Lebanon,  Pa 

Canton,  Ohio 

Hagerstown,  Md.. 
Mansfield,  Ohio. .. 

York.  Pa 

Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

Baltimore,  Md 

Pittsburgh,  Pa 

Sunburj',   Pa 

Richmond,  Ind 


Totals $1338065  65  2468 


05  S 

—  Ci. 
CD  *> 

o« 
H 


$21767 
23501 
25727 
21051 
25686 
27°3S 
37193 
46984 
61091 
67175 
75977 
77800 
85230 
86665 
84849 
91223 
96297 
104151 
131267 
157390 


1731 
1444 
1544 
1123 

1375 
1084 
1266 
2381 
3176: 
4354 
5385' 
5732 
5969 
6496 
5506 
54x0 

6733 
7692 
8171 
9381 


2  ""9 


$3879  00 
2488  16 
2311  67 
2109  40 
1784  31 
2576  o8| 
3152  64 
4532  63 
7594  49 
10845  75 
13591  81 
15958  461 
16246  99 
21104  731 
19179  05, 
22347  6s 
22073  24 
25227  91 
3i»57  55 
34789  44 


J71496  00 
64786  78 
68258  36 
74699  58 

55989  52 
82108  OS 
96544  01 
11403s  09 
203863  86 
238997  02 
265275  84 
305020  16 
326481  83 
327668  87 
309558  OS 
323038  10 
399019  38 
614295  26 
481712  07 
571557  75 


6o7'iao864!$2635so  96  $4993404  67 


34  HOME   MISSIONS. 

The  testimony  of  those  forty  years  is  clear  and 
unequivocal  as  to  the  momentous  importance  and 
insuperable  value  of  the  Home  Mission  enterprise 
in  the  growth  and  development  of  the  Church,  and 
in  the  promotion  of  its  efficiency  in  the  prosecution 
of  its  God-given  work.  In  a  very  large  measure,  it 
must  be  admitted,  the  surprising  progress  that  has 
been  made  in  the  last  forty  years  in  our  Church  has 
been  due  to  the  agency  whose  appointed  duty  and 
specific  mission  has  been  to  explore  the  land,  dis- 
cover the  fields,  plant  and  foster  the  Church,  and 
thus  enlarge  the  borders  of  our  Zion.  The  star  of 
our  ecclesiastical  empire,  under  the  guiding  and  sus- 
taining hand  of  Home  Missions,  has  moved  west- 
ward from  ocean  to  ocean,  and  in  its  progress  hun- 
dreds of  churches  have  been  established,  thousands 
of  souls  have  been  gathered  into  their  fellowship, 
educational  and  eleemosynary  agencies  and  institu- 
tions have  been  established,  fountains  of  running 
water  have  been  opened  in  the  desert,  and  the  Chris- 
tian civilization  of  our  nation  has  been  promoted. 


II 

RETROSPECT  AND  PROSPECT 


RETROSPECT  AND  PROSPECT. 

JACOB  A.    CLUTZ^  D.D. 

When  a  traveler,  after  long  climbing,  reaches 
a  higher  elevation  on  his  journey  than  any  hitherto 
attained,  he  may  use  the  advantage  of  outlook  thus 
gained  in  various  ways.  If  he  so  chooses  he  may 
use  it  entirely  for  retrospect.  What  time  he  spends 
on  the  summit  he  may  devote  wholly  to  looking 
backward  to  see  the  country  through  which  he  has 
been  passing,  and  to  trace,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
way  by  which  he  has  come.  Or  he  may  elect  to 
keep  his  face  steadily  to  the  front.  Forgetting  the 
things  that  are  behind  he  may  reach  forward  in 
thought  and  vision  to  those  things  which  are  be- 
fore and  occupy  himself  either  with  a  general  view 
of  the  country  that  lies  before  him,  or  with  an  effort 
to  trace  the  road  by  which  he  must  traverse  it.  Or 
he  may  combine  these  two  processes.  He  may  look 
both  backward  and  forward.  He  may  survey  the 
country  on  both  sides  of  the  mountain  or  ridge  on 
which  he  now  stands  and  follow  with  his  eye  both 
the  roads  already  traveled  and  those  which  stretch 
away  into  the  distance  in  the  direction  in  which 
his  journey  is  still  to  proceed.     If  he  is  a  wise  and 

(27) 


28  HOME    MISSIONS. 

thoughtful  traveler  he  will  likely  select  this  third 
alternative. 

As  to  the  results  of  his  observations,  the  effect 
they  will  have  upon  his  own  mind  and  feelings, 
much  will  depend  on  the  spirit  in  which  he  makes 
them,  whether  it  be  as  an  optimist  or  as  a  pes- 
simist. If  he  is  pessimistically  inclined,  as  he  looks 
back,  he  may  think  only  of  the  difficulties  and  dis- 
comforts of  his  journey  thus  far,  the  rough  places 
passed  over,  the  steep  hills  climbed,  the  mire  waded 
through,  the  dangerous  crossings  of  the  rivers,  the 
heat  and  the  dust  and  the  sweat  and  toil  of  the  way. 
And  as  he  thinks  of  these  he  is  likely  to  sigh  with 
weariness  in  anticipation  of  the  repetition  of  all 
these  hard  and  disagreeable  experiences  as  he  must 
proceed  on  his  journey,  and  to  wish  that  it  were 
all  over  with  and  that  he  were  at  his  journey's  end. 
If,  however,  he  is  of  an  optimistic  temperament, 
everything  will  be  very  different.  As  he  looks  back 
now  he  will  entirely  forget  all  these  unpleasant 
things,  or  will  think  of  them  only  as  evils  put  be- 
hind him,  as  difficulties  conquered  and  thus  make 
the  prophecies  an  earnest  of  future  successes  and 
triumphs.  His  mind  will  be  occupied  far  more 
with  the  beauty  of  the  country  passed  through, 
with  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  with  the  many  de- 
lightful experiences  he  has  had  as  he  journeyed 
along.  And  so  likewise,  in  looking  forwards,  he 
will  think  but  little,  or  not  at  all,  of  the  privations 


RETROSPECT   AND   PROSPECT.  29 

and  hardships  and  dangers  to  be  encountered  as  he 
proceeds  on  his  way,  but  he  will  think  much  and 
with  eager  anticipation  of  the  new  country  to  be 
seen,  the  new  beauties  to  be  discovered  and  the  new- 
pleasures  to  be  experienced. 

Of  course,  you  have  all  anticipated  the  use  I 
wish  to  make  of  this  figure  or  illustration.  We  at 
this  time  stand  on  such  an  eminence  in  the  history 
of  the  development  of  the  General  Synod,  and  es- 
pecially of  its  benevolent  work,  as  we  come  together 
here  to  celebrate  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  the 
present  plan  of  conducting  our  work,  and  of  the 
appointment  of  the  three  oldest  and  greatest  of 
our  Boards.  Hence,  in  making  this  opening  ad- 
dress of  the  evening  I  want  to  ask  you  to  look  back 
with  me  over  these  forty  years  of  effort  and  ac- 
complishment, which  have  brought  us  thus  far,  and 
then  also  to  take  a  hasty  glance  into  the  future. 
I  want  to  ask  you  to  do  this  also  in  an  optimistic 
rather  than  in  a  pessimistic  mood,  and  to  look  for- 
ward with  the  confident  faith  and  assurance  that 
there  are  still  larger  and  better  things  to  come  than 
anything  that  we  have  yet  seen  or  known. 

Fifteen  minutes  is  a  very  short  time  for  such  a 
retrospect  and  prospect,  and,  of  course,  we  can 
deal  only  in  the  broadest  generalities,  and  in  these 
only  in  the  briefest  possible  way. 

In  looking  back  the  first  thing  to  which  I  would 
call  your  attention   is  the  growth  of  the  Church 


30  HOME    MISSIONS. 

itself  during  these  forty  years.  I  speak  only  of 
the  General  Synod,  because  we  are  especially  inter- 
ested in  it,  and  because  it  is  absolutely  impossible 
to  speak  of  the  whole  Church  in  the  time  allowed. 
A  very  striking  outward  or  material  evidence  of 
our  growth  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  when  I  took  up 
the  minutes  of  the  General  Synod  which  met  in 
Washington,  D.  C.,  in  1869,  to  get  some  informa- 
tion from  them  I  found  them  to  be  a  small  pam- 
phlet of  only  108  pages  including  the  index,  while 
the  minutes  of  the  last  General  Synod  make  up  a 
stout  volume  of  over  500  pages. 

But  let  me  give  you  a  few  figures  from  those 
old  minutes  of  forty  years  ago.  From  the  Paroch- 
ial Table,  which  is  itself  a  very  small  affair  com- 
pared with  the  Parochial  Summaries  which  are 
now  published  every  two  years,  we  learn  that  we 
then  had  22  District  Synods,  591  ministers,  997 
congregations,  91,720  communicants,  556  Luth- 
eran Sunday  schools  and  485  union  schools,  with 
71,832  scholars.  The  Lutheran  Almanac  and  Year 
Book  for  1909  gives  us  22,  District  Synods  (the 
three  New  York  Synods  having  been  combined  into 
one  last  fall),  131 5  ministers,  1744  congregations, 
and  280,978  confirmed  members.  The  latest  Sun- 
day-school statistics  available  are  those  published 
in  the  General  Synod  Minutes  of  two  years  ago. 
They  indicate  1656  Sunday  schools,  no  mention 
being  made  of  union  schools,  with  28,665  officers 


RETROSPECT   AND    PROSPECT.  3 1 

and  teachers  and  219,198  scholars,  a  combined  en- 
rollment of  244,863.  What  a  story  these  figures  tell 
of  growth  in  numbers  and  in  influence  and  power ! 

Not  only  have  we  thus  grown  in  numbers,  but 
we  have  also  increased  greatly  in  wealth.  With 
some  temporary  backsets  by  reason  of  financial  pan- 
ics, and  consequent  business  depressions,  the  re- 
sources of  our  country  and  the  wealth  of  the  nation 
have  increased  enormously  during  these  forty 
years.  Our  American  people  are  now  generally 
recognized  as  being  the  richest  and  most  prosper- 
ous people  on  the  earth,  and  the  richest  and  most 
prosperous  people  the  world  has  ever  known.  In 
this  general  prosperity  and  increase  of  wealth  our 
people  have  shared  generously,  and  as  a  consequence 
we  are  far  more  able  to-day  proportionately  to 
give  for  benevolence  and  to  do  larger  things  for 
the  building  up  of  the  Church  than  we  were  forty 
years  ago.  If,  therefore,  as  is  no  doubt  true,  God 
is  laying  upon  our  Church  a  larger  responsibility 
than  ever  before,  he  has  also  given  us  a  larger 
ability  to  meet  these  demands.  In  God's  economy, 
both  in  nature  and  in  grace,  responsibility  always 
keeps  pace  with,  but  never  goes  beyond  the  ability 
to  respond.  This  must  be  so  since  both  are  from 
Him,  and  He  makes  no  mistakes. 

I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say,  also,  that  we  have 
grown  largely  in  liberality  as  well  as  in  numbers 
and  in  wealth.     A  comparison  of  the  giving  of  to- 


32  HOME    MISSIONS. 

day,  with  the  giving  of  forty  years  ago,  while  it 
may  still  leave  much  to  be  desired,  also  gives  great 
encouragement  and  inspires  large  hope  for  the 
future.  The  Parochial  Summary  for  1869  contains 
only  three  columns  for  benevolent  contributions, 
reporting  for  Beneficiary  Education  $9,920,01,  for 
Home  Missions  $14,205.02,  and  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions $3,920.20.  Truly  that  was  a  day  of  small 
things,  though,  of  course,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  this  report  covered  only  one  year,  the  General 
Synod  having  met  in  Harrisburg  in  1868.  Speak- 
ing of  the  work  of  Home  Missions,  which  I  more 
especially  represent  on  this  program,  the  $14,205.02 
reported  evidently  included  the  work  done  inde- 
pendently by  the  several  District  Synods  on  their 
own  territory.  The  report  of  the  Home  Missionary 
Society,  which  then  carried  on  the  general  work,  and 
which  at  that  time  gave  way  to  the  Board  of  Home 
Missions,  reported  receipts  of  only  $3,096.29  from 
the  Synods  and  $1,752.07  from  individuals,  a  total 
of  $4,848.36  for  the  year,  and  16  missions  aided. 
Now,  set  over  against  this  the  report  made  by  our 
Board  of  Home  Missions  at  Sunbury  for  the  pre- 
ceding biennium  showing  receipts  of  $96,378.07 
from  the  Synods,  and  from  all  sources  $131,267.90, 
while  the  number  of  missions  aided  was  212. 
Surely  this  shows  encouraging  progress.  The 
totals  for  benevolence  are  even  more  encouraging. 
The  total  amount  reported  for  benevolence  forty 


RETROSPECT   AND    PROSPECT.  33 

years  ago  was  $28,1 17.23  from  91,720  communicant 
members,  or  an  average  of  less  than  31  cents  per 
member.  Two  years  ago  the  total  reported  for  the 
ten  regular  benevolent  objects,  including  the 
Woman's  Missionary  Society,  was  $530,905.52,  or 
$265,452.76  for  each  year  of  the  biennium,  from 
280,978  communicants,  or  an  average  of  95  cents 
per  member.  This  includes  only  the  amounts  paid 
through  the  regular  channels,  and  takes  no  account 
of  legacies  or  personal  gifts  made  directly  to  our 
various  Boards.  I  think  that  during  the  past  year 
the  Board  of  Home  Missions  has  received  more 
individual  gifts  to  its  treasury  ranging  in  amounts 
from  $50.00  to  $500.00  and  even  $1000.00  than 
during  any  previous  ten  years,  not  counting  special 
efforts  made  several  times  at  the  General  Synod  to 
cancel  debts.  This  is  one  feature  of  giving  in 
which  our  Church  has  been  weak,  but  we  are  im- 
proving here  also,  and  the  future  looks  much 
brighter  than  the  past. 

Another  very  hopeful  feature  of  our  work  is 
our  better  organization  for  work.  The  new  depart- 
ure taken  at  Washington  forty  years  ago  was  evi- 
dently in  the  right  direction,  when  Boards  directly 
appointed  by  and  responsible  to  the  General  Synod 
were  substituted  for  the  old  "Societies"  with  their 
"Executive  Committees,"  having  really  no  organic 
relation  to  the  General  Synod.  The  employment 
of  Secretaries,  who  should  devote  their  whole  time 
3 


34  HOME   MISSIONS. 

to  the  work  of  these  Boards,  soon  followed  as  a 
matter  of  course  and  of  necessity.  And  now,  to 
speak  only  of  Home  Missions  and  Church  Exten- 
sion, which  have  always  been  so  closely  associated, 
and  which  were  at  first  really  only  one  Board,  we 
have  five  men  employed  to  superintend  and  develop 
the  work  where  but  one  was  employed  forty  years 
ago,  and  even  that  one  somewhat  irregularly  and 
spasmodically. 

Besides  this,  each  District  Synod  now  has  an 
Advisory  Board  or  Committee  to  assist  as  may  be 
required  in  the  work  on  their  own  territory.  We 
have  also  the  Woman's  Home  and  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  the  work  for  the  Young  Peo- 
ple's Societies,  and  the  work  in  the  Sunday  schools. 
And  last  of  all,  the  Laymen's  Movement  is  putting 
its  strong  shoulder  to  the  wheel  and  beginning  to 
push  most  vigorously.  What  may  we  not  expect 
the  next  forty  years  to  bring  forth  with  such  an 
organization  as  this  to  conduct  the  work  both  of 
raising  funds  and  of  administration ! 

I  meant  to  speak  also  of  the  growth  of  the  work 
during  these  forty  years,  and  of  the  more  inviting 
and  more  promising  fields  that  are  open  to  us  as 
compared  with  those  of  forty  years  ago.  But  time 
fails  me.  What  can  one  hope  to  do  with  such  a 
subject  in  so  short  a  time?  No  doubt  some  of  these 
facts  will  be  brought  out  by  others  in  their  addresses 
as  the  program  proceeds.     Suffice  it  to  say  in  clos- 


RETROSPECT  AND  PROSPECT.        35 

ing,  that  as  we  stand  on  this  vantage  ground  with 
our  faces  to  the  front  all  the  future  looks  bright 
and  promising.  Every  recollection  of  the  past, 
and  every  feature  of  the  present,  when  interpreted 
in  a  spirit  of  loyalty  to  our  Church  and  to  her  prin- 
ciples and  polity,  in  love  to  our  people  and  to  all 
the  people  for  whom  Christ  died,  and  with  faith 
in  God  and  in  the  rich  promises  of  His  word,  en- 
courage us  to  go  forward  with  cheerful  hearts, 
with  hopeful  spirits,  and  with  a  firm  and  fearless 
tread,  confidently  expecting  that  with  the  momentum 
gained  by  the  successes  of  the  past,  and  with  our 
greatly  increased  strength  and  ability,  we  shall  ac- 
complish very  much  greater  and  better  things  in 
the  future. 


Ill 

A  GENERAL  SURVEY 


A  GENERAL  SURVEY. 

G.  W.  ENDERS^  D.D. 

I  came  prepared  to  speak  at  the  opening  of  this 
convention,  but  my  speech  has  been  decimated  by 
others;  and  again  I  prepared  an  address,  and  again 
all  my  facts  and  figures  other  speakers  wove  into 
their  excellent  addresses.  I  now  present  only  a  few 
thoughts  and  suggestions  in  outline  and  additional. 
Forty  years  ago  I  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Gen- 
eral Synod  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
in  1868.  I  recall  the  numerical  smallness  and  the 
largely  discouraging  situation  of  our  Lutheran 
Church.  I  heard  the  old  pastors  talk  of  dissolving 
the  Lutheran  Church  in  America  and  uniting  with 
other  denominations,  for  said  they :  "We  will  never 
amount  to  much  in  this  country."  But  forty  years 
have  passed,  and  with  them  the  notes  of  dissolution 
and  amalgamation. 

The  Lutherans  of  America  have  awakened  and 
have  become  conscious  of  their  numbers  and 
strength.  There  are  in  America  13,000,000  citizens 
of  Lutheran  stock.  There  are  2,250,000  communi- 
cants, and  gathered  in  our  congregations  and  Sun- 
day schools  are  about  5,000,000  souls.  What  a 
force !    Canada  on  the  north  is  becoming  an  inviting 

(39) 


40  HOME   MISSIONS. 

Home  Mission  field  white  unto  the  harvest.  South 
America  beckons  us  Hke  the  man  of  Macedonia: 
''Come  over  and  help  us/'  The  United  States,  from 
the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  are  rich  with  abounding  opportunities  for 
Lutheran  Home  Missions.  There  are  about  50,- 
000,000  of  unchurched  Americans  that  need  our 
immediate  care  to  shepherd  and  hold  them  in  God's 
"green  pastures,"  Millions  are  coming  to  America 
in  a  constant  stream  of  immigration  from  the  Luth- 
eran lands  of  Europe.  They  need  and  deserve  our 
fraternal  hand  and  aid  to  gather  them  here  into  the 
Church  of  their  birth. 

No  church  in  America  is  so  well  adapted  to  do 
this  Home  Mission  work  as  our  own  General  Synod 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.  A  mighty 
opportunity  entails  a  mighty  responsibility  upon  us. 

Our  Church  has  suffered  almost  infinite  loss  in 
the  past  two  centuries  in  America.  Other  denomina- 
tions have  greatly  profited  by  our  loss.  It  is  high 
time  to  cease  "playing  at  Home  Missions,"  and  it 
is  now  time  to  plant  missions  in  earnest  and  sustain 
them  vigorously,  and  bring  them  to  self-support. 
Every  new  Home  Mission  opened  is  a  new  fountain 
of  supply  for  every  great  and  benevolent  cause  of 
the  Church.  While  every  other  cause  of  the  Church 
is  very  important  and  ought  to  be  sustained  in  the 
future  better  than  in  the  past,  yet  it  must  be  con- 
ceded that  in  the  General  Synod  the  cause  of  Home 


A   GENERAL  SURVEY.  4I 

Missions  is  the  fundamental  cause  of  all  benevolent 
work.  If  our  Church  will  push  Home  Missions  and 
make  them  £rst  and  successful,  then  every  other 
Board  and  cause  will  have  a  broad  and  strong  basis 
on  which  to  operate.  If  Home  Missions  are  slighted 
then  every  benevolent  cause  must  suffer. 

The  apportionment  for  Home  Missions  ought  to 
be  at  least  twice  and  thrice  as  large  as  for  any 
other  cause  of  benevolence.  If  in  this  twentieth 
century  the  Lutheran  Church  will  act  wisely,  and 
plant  her  Home  Missions  wherever  an  opportune 
field  offers,  then  the  twenty-first  century  will  see  the 
Lutheran  Church  not  third  nor  second  in  denomina- 
tional strength,  but  she  will  easily  be  first  and  chief 
in  America,  and  lead  the  mighty  hosts  of  God's 
great  army  to  victory. 

What  has  been  accomplished  in  the  past  forty 
years  is  but  a  faint  promise  of  what  can  and  will  be 
accomplished  in  the  next  four  decades.  Forty  years 
ago  the  General  Synod  had  in  New  York  City  one 
congregation,  and  in  Brooklyn  one  weak  mission; 
she  now  has  twenty-one,  and  there  are  about  one 
hundred  and  sixty  Lutheran  churches  in  Greater 
New  York.  In  Jersey  City,  Hoboken,  Newark 
and  Paterson  we  had  not  a  Lutheran  church ;  we 
now  have  churches  in  all  of  them.  In  Trenton, 
N.  J.,  we  have  several  churches  where  we  were  un- 
known forty  years  ago.  In  Philadelphia  we  had 
forty  years  ago  two  congregations ;  we  now  have 


42  HOME   MISSIONS. 

twenty-one,  and  there  is  a  great  company  of  Luth- 
eran churches  belonging  to  other  Synods.  We  had 
nothing  in  Camden,  N.  J. ;  now  we  have  six  in  Cam- 
den and  vicinity.  In  Baltimore  we  had  three 
churches;  now  eighteen  are  reported.  In  Washing- 
ton, D,  C,  we  had  one ;  now  ten.  In  York  and  vi- 
cinity there  were  four ;  now  fifteen  are  reported ;  and 
"still  there's  more  to  follow."  In  Harrisburg  we 
had  one;  now  eleven  congregations  and  more  in 
prospect.  In  Altoona  one;  now  eight  and  many  in 
the  immediate  vicinity.  In  Pittsburgh  we  had  two 
churches,  and  we  now  report  thirty,  and  the  whole 
Pittsburgh  territory  is  a  fruitful  Home  Mission 
field.  In  Louisville,  Ky.,  we  had  nothing  forty 
years  ago;  we  now  have,  as  result  of  Home  Mis- 
sions, seven  congregations  and  still  increasing.  In 
Chicago  we  had  not  even  a  beginning;  we  now  have 
nineteen  organizations  and  room  for  many  more. 
In  St.  Louis  we  had  one  congregation;  we  now 
have  two,  but  there  are  many  inviting  fields  for  Eng- 
lish Home  Missions  in  this  city  of  over  1,000,000  in- 
habitants. And  so  we  could  go  on  to  specify  and 
localize  in  many  towns  and  cities  of  our  land.  In- 
deed, everywhere  our  Church  has  made  progress. 
The  great  Northwest  has  her  doors  wide  open  and 
invites  us  to  enter.  Beyond  the  Mississippi  River  the 
home  missionaries  have  planted  six  entire  Synods, 
reaching  to  California  and  the  Golden  Gate.  Nearly 
seven  hundred  congregations  have  been  organized 


A    GENERAL   SURVEY.  43 

by  the  Home  Mission  agencies  in  the  past  forty 
years,  or  nearly  one-half  of  the  churches  of  the  Gen- 
eral Synod.     "What  hath  God  wrought!" 

Our  Home  Mission  opportunities  are  not  dimin- 
ishing, but  ever  increasing.  If  our  Home  Mission 
Board  had  one  hundred  well  equipped  men,  and 
men  with  the  missionary  zeal,  grit  and  spirit,  it 
would  start  one  hundred  good  Home  Missions.  We 
have  the  fields.  Out  in  the  great  West,  and  espe- 
cially in  our  large  cities  and  centers  of  population, 
there  is  great  need  of  Home  Missions. 

But  the  cause  needs  also  consecrated  money.  The 
debt  of  $18,000.00  has  been  canceled,  and  all  obliga- 
tions paid;  but  this  Board  of  Home  Missions  has  a 
pay-roll  of  nearly  $6,000.00  every  month,  and  the 
Church  must  continue  to  pour  her  prayers  to  God 
and  her  money  into  the  Home  Mission  treasury  if 
this  great  cause  is  to  succeed  according  to  the  meas- 
ure of  its  opportunity  and  responsibility. 

Three  things  the  Church  needs  to  do  to  speed  the 
conquest  of  America  by  the  Lutheran  Church : 

1.  Consecrate  your  sons  to  the  holy  ministry, 
and  give  us  good  common-sense  home  missionaries, 

2.  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  in  God's  storehouse, 
and  furnish  the  money  for  this  great  work. 

3.  Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  for  the 
workers. 


IV 

THE  VANTAGE-GROUND  OF 
LUTHERANISM 


THE  VANTAGE-GROUND  OF 
LUTHERANISM. 

EZRA  K.  BELL,  D.D. 

The  Lutheran  Church  has  always  occupied  a 
unique  position  among  the  forces  of  Christianity, 
Born  in  the- heart  of  Saxon  Europe,  her  arteries  of 
faith  and  Hfe  sent  the  truth  pulsating  with  quicken- 
ing power  wherever  Saxon  blood  flowed  in  the  veins 
of  the  people.  Thus  she  became  a  polyglot  Church 
and  her  sons  and  daughters  have  erected  her  altars  in 
all  quarters  of  the  globe.  This  vantage-ground  has 
always  been  clear,  and  she  has  been  able  to  gather 
millions  into  the  fold  of  Christ. 

To  the  Lutheran  Church  hence  the  "field  is  the 
world."  Her  commission  is  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
the  whole  creation.  She  makes  no  specialty  of  par- 
ticular classes.  The  Lutheran  field  is  Christ's  field, 
and  the  Master  said:  "The  field  is  the  world."  If 
our  Church  is  to  enjoy  the  continued  favor  of  God 
she  must  rise  to  that  high  sense  of  responsibility 
which  aims  to  take  the  nation  for  Christ.  The 
vision  must  find  no  horizon  until  the  whole  conti- 
nent is  scanned.  The  entire  broad  land  is  Lutheran 
territory.  The  farming  district,  the  country  village, 
the  inland  town  and  the  great  city  are  all  fields  for 

(47) 


48  HOME   MISSIONS. 

our  Church.  To  neglect  the  country  is  to  sin  against 
the  command;  to  neglect  the  city  is  to  sin  against 
reason  and  against  God. 

Emerson  never  penned  truer  words  than  when  he 
said :  "The  city  would  have  died  out,  rotted  and 
exploded  long  ago,  but  that  it  was  reinforced  from 
the  country.  It  is  only  country  that  came  to  town 
day  before  yesterday,  that  is  city  and  court  to-day." 
So  we  must  look  well  to  the  country  districts  if 
the  future  city  is  to  be  saved.  There  is  no  distinc- 
tion of  place  with  Him  who  said :  "The  field  is  the 
world." 

But  what  is  our  opportunity  in  this  great  field? 
While  it  is  manifestly  our  duty  to  labor  and  pray  for 
all  men,  still  it  is  proper  for  us  to  ask  whether  Divine 
Providence  has  not  set  before  us  some  special  op- 
portunities and  given  us  some  special  vantage- 
ground.  We  hear  a  great  deal  about  lost  opportuni- 
ties. Without  doubt  golden  opportunities  have  been 
lost,  but  they  were  not  such  opportunities  as  our 
Church  has  to-day.  In  the  cities  the  special  oppor- 
tunities come  to  us  later  than  to  the  denominations. 
The  denominations  are  for  the  most  part  English  in 
their  origin.  The  early  settlers  and  the  immigrants 
of  the  first  two  centuries  were  chiefly  English- 
speaking  people.  The  denominations  were  the 
churches  of  their  home  tongue  and  of  their  native 
land.  When  our  Lutheran  people  came  they  were 
compelled  to  labor  against  great  odds.    They  had  no 


THE   VANTAGE-GROUND   OF    LUTHERANISM.     49 

literature  in  the  language  of  the  people,  no  printing 
presses  that  published  papers  and  books  in  the  Eng- 
lish tongue.  They  were  restricted,  misunderstood 
and  often  suffered  under  false  accusation,  while  the 
truth  in  respect  to  their  character  and  mission  was 
wrapped  up  in  a  foreign  language. 

But  the  day  has  come  when  the  treasures  of 
Lutheran  theology  and  of  our  rich  devotional  litera- 
ture are  no  longer  hid  in  a  corner.  Instead  of  our 
colleges  borrowing  theological  text-books  from 
others,  the  denominations  are  studying  Lutheran 
books  in  all  the  great  schools  of  the  land.  No 
American  student  can  longer  remain  ignorant  of 
what  the  Lutheran  Church  has  been  and  now  is. 

Our  Church  was  planted  in  America  under  pecu- 
liar circumstances.  Our  people  did  not  leave  the 
Fatherland  for  adventure  or  in  quest  of  gold.  Per- 
secutions beyond  the  seas  brought  our  fathers  here. 
The  Salzburgers,  the  Palatines,  as  well  as  the  Dutch, 
left  their  homes  along  the  Rhine  and  the  Zuyder 
Zee  because  their  Lutheran  faith  was  dear  to  them. 
Crushed  by  the  heel  of  Roman  brutality  and  despot- 
ism they  became,  when  transplanted,  the  unfolding 
flower  of  Lutheran  faith  and  piety  in  the  land  be- 
yond the  sea.  So  it  would  seem  that  Divine  Provi- 
dence sent  them  to  America,  and  they  came  not  only 
to  give  brain  and  brawn,  but  to  take  a  large  place 
in  the  making  of  a  great  Christian  nation. 

The  early  immigration  caused  by  persecution,  pre- 

4 


50  HOME   MISSIONS. 

pared  the  way  for  the  larger  immigration  that  was 
to  follow.  When  Muhlenberg  came  to  gather  our 
scattered  people  he  found  about  five  thousand  bap- 
tized Lutherans,  which  number  has  grown  to  five 
millions,  with  as  many  more  who  are  as  sheep  with- 
out a  shepherd,  and  out  of  communion  with  the 
Church  of  their  faith.  Fifty  years  ago  our  people 
labored  in  comparative  obscurity  and  were  scarcely 
taken  into  account  by  the  religious  forces  of  other 
churches  around  them.  But  they  were  laying  foun- 
dations, transplanting  that  which  had  been  torn  up 
by  the  roots  in  the  Fatherland.  Synod  after  Synod 
was  organized,  until  the  third  place  has  been  reached 
in  the  great  religious  bodies  of  the  nation. 

Our  people  are  of  Saxon  blood  and  the  Saxon  is 
a  remarkable  character.  In  his  ancient,  historic 
and  ancestral  home  he  has  preserved  a  blood  un- 
mingled  with  that  of  any  conqueror.  He  van- 
quished Rome  long  ago  and  sent  his  brave  sons 
to  conquer  Britain  and  place  that  graft  on  the  Eng- 
lish tree  which  changed  its  products  from  barbar- 
ism to  the  noblest  fruits  of  the  civilized  world. 
He  has  given  much  to  Spain  and  Gaul,  and  es- 
pecially to  Scandinavia,  and  now  to  America  he 
has  turned,  and  millions  of  his  people  are  within  our 
domain.  He  did  not  come  here  earliest  or  in  great 
numbers  at  first,  but  he  came  in  time  to  furnish  that 
Baron  Steuben  to  whom  the  chaotic  Continental 
Army  owed  its  improved  discipline  and  its  later  tri- 


THE   VANTAGE-GROUND    OF    LUTHERANISM.     5 1 

umphs.  He  came  in  time  to  give  that  brave  veteran, 
Baron  De  Kalb,  over  whose  grave  Lafayette  erected 
a  monument  and  Washington  shed  tears.  He 
came  in  time  to  furnish  Muhlenberg,  who  stripped 
off  his  ecclesiastical  robes  to  don  the  uniform  of  the 
soldier  and  lead  a  regiment  of  his  own  countrymen, 
the  men  of  his  Church,  in  the  field.  At  the  call  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  he  furnished  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  thousand  men  in  the  struggle  for  a  na- 
tion now  wholly  free.  So  that  the  Saxon  has  a 
birthright  here,  the  right  to  come  and  the  right  to 
stay. 

In  later  years  millions  have  come  over  from  the 
homeland,  and  no  one  can  tell  when  the  stream  of 
immigration  will  cease.  It  is  not  surprising  that 
under  restless  conditions  in  the  Fatherland  some  un- 
desirable immigrants  come  to  our  shores;  that  out 
of  many  millions  there  should  be  some  who  are 
not  what  they  ought  to  be.  But  a  few  thousand 
anarchists  and  free  thinkers  who  keep  themselves 
before  the  public  eye  should  not  cause  men  to  over- 
look the  thrift,  the  industry  and  content,  the  beau- 
tiful piety  which  abound  wherever  our  people  are. 

Some  of  you  remember  when  Independence  and 
Thanksgiving  Day  orators  gave  all  credit  for  what 
we  have  to  the  Puritans.  But  that  strain  of  oratory 
has  ceased  in  later  years.  At  a  Puritan  celebra- 
tion in  the  State  of  Ohio,  a  son  of  the  Puritans  said 
to  his  audience  that  sixty  counties   in  that  great 


52  HOME    MISSIONS. 

State  had  been  settled  by  people  of  German  stock 
and  that  the  industry,  thrift,  honesty  and  content 
of  these  people  had  made  Ohio  so  illustrious  among 
the  States.  These  people,  largely  Lutheran,  are  still 
laying  foundations  and  making  great  States.  They 
are  spreading  throughout  the  country  like  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  covered  the  land  of  Goshen. 

The  Saxon  is  not  an  adventurer,  but  seeks  and 
makes  a  home.  He  has  a  family  of  children.  He  is 
not  only  pressing  his  way  into  the  great  Northwest 
where  his  Lutheran  kinsfolk,  the  Danes,  Norweg- 
ians and  Swedes  are,  but  he  is  moving  toward  the 
South,  and  wherever  he  goes  he  makes  the  wilder- 
ness teem  with  the  fruits  of  his  toil.  He  is  even 
pressing  his  way  into  New  England,  building  his 
cottage  under  the  shadow  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  is 
planting  the  standard  of  the  Saxon  hero  who  broke 
the  shackles  of  Roman  despotism,  on  Plymouth  rock. 

Who  is  to  look  after  these  people  and  see  that 
they  have  their  church?  Shall  we  who  are  their 
kinsmen  and  of  their  faith  let  them  scatter  and  be 
lost  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd  ?  One  of  our  best- 
informed  writers  recently  said  that  "there  are  more 
lost  or  unchurched  Lutherans  in  New  York  and 
Chicago  than  gathered  Lutherans  in  any  city  in 
Germany  or  Scandinavia,  if  we  except  Berlin. 
There  are  more  people  of  German  lineage  in 
America  to-day  than  people  from  the  British  Em- 
pire.   England  furnished  America  with  her  language 


THE   VANTAGE-GROUND   OF   LUTHERANISM.     53 

and  her  laws,  but  Germany  and  Scandinavia  are 
furnishing  the  citizens.  Take  the  German  blood 
out  of  the  arteries  of  the  two  greatest  States  of 
the  Union,  then  consider  what  you  have  left.  In 
New  York  City  alone  there  is  a  German  city  the 
size  of  Hamburg,  and  two-thirds  of  them  are  of 
Lutheran  extraction.  In  Chicago  there  is  a  Scandi- 
navian city  of  the  size  of  Stockholm,  and  in  the  coun- 
try there  are  three  millions  of  these  fair  and  sturdy 
sons  of  the  north.  One-half  of  them  are  in  the  Luth- 
eran fold,  and  the  other  half  are  either  in  the  denom- 
inations or  out  in  the  world.  Take  the  people  of  Ger- 
many and  Scandinavia,  and  hence  chiefly  of  Luth- 
eran extraction,  out  of  the  great  valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  you  remove  fully  one-half  of  the  clergy, 
the  doctors,  the  lawyers,  the  legislators,  the  teachers, 
the  pupils,  the  farmers,  the  merchants,  the  mechan- 
ics, and  all  that  give  that  great  section  of  our  coun- 
try its  chief  stability  and  strength.  While  New  Eng- 
land Puritans  and  Puritanism  are  fast  becoming  a 
memory,  Germans  and  Scandinavians,  with  their 
large  families,  are  filling  the  depleted  ranks  and  fur- 
nishing a  fresh  background  for  New  England's  fut- 
ure history." 

Surely  ours  is  a  great  opportunity  for  extending 
the  kingdom  right  here  in  our  own  land.  The  older 
cities  of  the  East  present  fields  of  richness  beyond 
estimation.  In  my  own  city  our  Lutheran  churches 
have  so  multiplied  that  to-day  they  rank  third,  if 


54  HOME   MISSIONS. 

not  second,  among  the  denominations.  Some  of 
you  remember  when  your  Church  in  Baltimore  was 
scarcely  known,  when  our  people  were  often  asked 
who  Lutherans  were.  But  you  may  live  to  see  the 
day  when  our  Church  will  take  the  first  place  in 
numbers  and  religious  power  in  the  Monumental 
City.  We  are  establishing  churches  where  other 
denominations  have  failed.  And  what  is  true  of 
Baltimore  is  true  of  other  eastern  cities.  We  can 
plant  churches  in  almost  any  of  them  with  assurance 
of  success.  New  York  is  one  of  our  greatest  Home 
Mission  fields.  If  our  Board  had  the  men  and  the 
money  it  could  plant  a  promising  church  in  New 
York  City  every  week  for  a  year. 

As  we  move  toward  the  great  West,  the  same 
matchless  opportunities  are  offered.  Some  of  you 
can  remember  when  the  center  of  our  Lutheran 
population  was  no  farther  west  than  Harrisburg. 
But  where  is  it  now?  Shall  we  find  it  as  far  west 
as  Altoona,  as  far  west  as  Pittsburgh,  as  far  west 
as  Columbus,  as  far  west  as  Cincinnati?  No,  to 
find  the  center  of  Lutheran  population  in  this  coun- 
try you  must  go  a  thousand  miles  from  the  Atlantic 
coast,  and  even  Chicago  will  be  found  east  of  it. 
Do  we  realize  it?  Can  we  comprehend  what  these 
millions  of  Lutherans,  most  of  them  as  yet  un- 
churched, present  to  us  in  the  way  of  opportunity 
and  duty  in  Home  Mission  work  ?  Who  can  estimate 
the  richness  of  the  field  the  Lord  has  invited  us  to 


THE   VANTAGE-GROUND    OF    LUTHERANISM.     55 

enter?  Who  could  comprehend  this  mighty  harvest 
that  is  ready  for  the  reaper  and  the  gatherer  of 
sheaves  ?  Others  have  been  telHng  us  for  years  that 
our  Church  has  the  greatest  opportunity  in  the  his- 
tory of  modern  Home  Missions.  And  the  oppor- 
tunity is  increasing.  It  is  intensifying  year  by  year, 
and  shall  it  be  that  we  at  w^hose  door  the  opportunity 
is  placed  shall  be  the  last  to  recognize  its  vast  pos- 
sibilities? 

The  consideration  of  our  field  and  opportunity 
calls  for  an  invoice  of  our  resources.  The  first  thing 
we  are  forced  to  think  about  here  is  the  money  that 
is  needed  to  do  our  great  Home  Mission  work. 
While  this  may  not  be  the  most  important,  still  the 
silver  and  gold  are  the  Lord's,  and  when  He  has 
placed  them  in  the  hands  of  His  people  He  means 
that  they  shall  represent  power  in  advancing  His 
kingdom.  The  days  when  the  Church  could  plead 
poverty  are  past.  Money  has  been  accummulated 
so  rapidly  during  the  past  twenty-five  years  that  our 
people  control  enormous  amounts  of  material  wealth. 
The  Lutheran  Church,  instead  of  being  poor,  has 
abundant  wealth  among  her  people  to  meet  all  neces- 
sary demands.  The  Church  has  wealth  to  such  an 
amount  that  if  the  tenth  of  income  were  given  to 
the  Lord's  work  we  could  build  a  church  every  day 
in  the  year  and  gladden  the  missions  and  mission- 
aries by  abundant  support.  We  could  liberally  en- 
dow every  college  in  the  General  Synod  during  the 


56  HOME   MISSIONS. 

coming  year  and  at  the  same  time  quadruple  all  our 
contributions  to  the  various  Boards  without  placing 
any  burden  on  anyone.  It  ought  not  to  be  said  any- 
where in  the  Lutheran  Church  that  our  people  are 
poor.  They  have  all  the  wealth  the  cause  of  Christ 
needs  to-day,  if  it  were  but  consecrated  to  Him  who 
loaned  it  to  His  people,  that  its  consecration  might 
bring  to  them  and  to  His  Church  the  largest  bless- 
ing. 

Another  vantage-ground  we  have  is  in  this  :  The 
Lutheran  Church  is  the  church  of  the  people.  The 
marvelous  growth  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  past 
years  was  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  recognized  as 
the  people's  church  and  not  the  church  of  any  par- 
ticular class.  To-day  where  Methodism  maintains 
its  interest  in  the  masses  its  growth  continues.  But 
wherever  the  Methodist  Church  has  become  the 
church  of  a  class,  her  congregations  have  ceased  to 
gain  from  the  outside  world. 

The  Lutheran  Church  is  becoming  more  and  more 
the  church  of  the  people.  Rich  and  poor  are  equally 
welcomed.  We  have  no  so-called  aristocratic 
churches  where  the  poor  are  denied  fellowship.  The 
simplicity,  yet  dignity  and  richness  of  our  service, 
the  integrity  of  our  membership,  the  contentment 
and  piety  found  among  our  people,  make  it  possible 
for  us  to  reach  the  masses  and  bring  multitudes  into 
the  kingdom. 

The  last  vantage-ground  I  shall  mention  consists 


THE   VANTAGE-GROUND   OF   LUTHERANISM.     57 

in  our  fidelity  to  the  pure  word  of  God.  In  the 
midst  of  theological  unrest  around  us,  our  Church 
holds  fast  to  the  Bible  as  the  only  infallible  rule 
of  faith  and  practice.  The  uncertain  note  sounded 
in  the  pulpits  of  so  many  of  the  denominations  is 
not  found  in  ours.  In  the  presence  of  departure 
from  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  the 
Lutheran  Church  cherishes  the  pure  word  of  God 
without  modification  and  without  sympathy  with 
a  destructive  criticism  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  "Ours 
is  a  joyous,  hopeful  faith."  Our  testimony  has  that 
note  of  certainty  which  the  heart  of  men  will  al- 
ways crave.  As  one  has  said :  "After  the  doctrinal 
liberalism  that  now  floats  like  a  bubble  in  the  air 
shall  have  burst,  our  Lutheran  Church,  if  she  re- 
main true  to  her  heritage,  will  rise  more  grandly 
than  ever,  for  in  not  one  of  her  twenty-three  sem- 
inaries, thirty-nine  colleges  and  forty-two  academies, 
is  there  room  for  a  single  professor  who  opposes 
her  faith.  Her  pulpits  ring  with  a  definite  message. 
Our  people  are  fed  on  the  milk  and  meat  of  the 
gospel  and  not  on  sociological  and  ethical  pabulum." 
We  doubtless  have  our  shortcomings,  and  if  that 
were  our  theme  we  might  paint  a  picture  whose 
colors  would  not  be  very  bright.  But  we  need  a 
great  awakening  to  a  realization  of  our  mission  and 
an  appreciation  of  the  vantage-ground  we  occupy. 
Our  future  depends  largely  on  the  consciousness 
we  have  of  our  limitless  field  and  mighty  respon- 


58  HOME   MISSIONS. 

sibility.  No  church  has  a  greater  open  door  in  this 
land.  Will  we  enter  it  ?  Will  we  hold  up  the  hands 
of  our  Home  Mission  Board  by  generous  giving 
and  continued  prayer  ?  Shall  we  not  at  this  Fortieth 
Anniversary  say  to  the  Board,  "Go  into  the  ripen- 
ing fields  of  the  East  and  Middle  West,  go  at  once 
into  the  great  Lutheran  centers  of  the  newer  West 
and  plant  the  Church  we  love,  and  by  God's  grace 
and  by  His  help,  we  will  double,  treble,  quadruple, 
the  measure  of  supplies  and  men  needed  for  a 
mighty  forward  movement  in  Home  Missions." 

Led  by  the  Spirit  of  God  and  resting  on  the  Divine 
promise,  our  vantage-ground  will  carry  us  on 
triumphant,  from  victory  to  victory  for  the  glory  of 
Him  who  hath  loved  us  and  bought  us  with  His 
blood. 


V 


HOME  MISSIONS  AND  WORLD-WIDE 
EVANGELIZATION 


HOME  MISSIONS  AND  WORLD-WIDE 
EVANGELIZATION. 

CHAS.    S.   ALBERT,   D.D. 

A  mountain  looms  large  in  the  beginning  of 
Christ's  ministry.  It  is  the  mountain  of  the  tempta- 
tion. A  mountain  looms  large  in  the  end  of  Christ's 
ministry.  It  is  the  mountain  of  Galilee  where  the 
risen  Jesus  met  His  disciples.  From  the  first  moun- 
tain, the  devil  showed  Jesus  "all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  and  the  glory  of  them,  and  saith  unto  Him, 
'All  these  will  I  give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and 
worship  me.'  "  It  was  the  vision  of  a  world-empire 
founded  on  force  and  injustice.  Jesus  rejected  that. 
Yet,  it  indicates  that  the  thought  of  a  world-empire 
was  in  His  mind  then. 

From  the  second  mountain,  Jesus  the  risen 
speaks :  "All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and 
earth.  Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  bap- 
tizing them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them  to  ob- 
serve all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you ; 
and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world."  Here,  again,  is  the  vision  of  the  world- 
empire,  but  to  be  won  by  the  teaching  of  the  truth, 
repentance  toward  God  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 

(6i) 


62  HOME    MISSIONS. 

Christ.  This  kingdom  must  be,  for  only  thus  can 
men  be  saved,  this  kingdom  must  prevail,  for  back 
of  it  is  the  living  Christ  with  all  power. 

Let  us  never  forget  the  first  religion  to  embrace 
the  world  as  its  own  was  the  Christian  religion. 
Out  of  one  of  the  smallest  and  narrowest  religions 
came  the  One  who  first  grasped  this  idea.  It  was  a 
colossal  thought,  not  born  of  man,  but  the  thought 
of  One  who  was  the  Son  of  the  Father,  whose 
thoughts  were  His  thoughts. 

The  idea  of  the  world  religion  is  born  of  the 
Christ,  the  only  begotten  Son  of  the  Father  of  all. 

What  has  Home  Missions  to  do  with  this  world- 
wide evangelization?  Much  in  every  way.  It  is 
needless  to  dwell  on  the  thought  that  is  common 
now,  namely,  that  the  base  of  supplies  must  be  en- 
larged as  the  advancing  army  is  enlarged  and  in- 
creases its  field  of  operations.  More  missionaries, 
more  institutions  of  education  and  mercy,  more 
struggling  mission  congregations  in  Asia  and  Africa 
demand  larger  supplies  of  means  and  recruits  for  the 
missions  abroad.  The  church  at  home  must  in- 
crease to  meet  the  larger  demands,  and  to  do  that 
Home  Mission  churches  must  be  established  that 
will  become  strong  congregations,  giving  to  For- 
eign Missions  their  young  men  and  women,  their 
contributions.  As  the  army  of  advance  abroad  in- 
creases, the  supplies  at  home  must  increase.  The 
more  there  must  be  sustained  by  the  more  here. 


HOME    MISSIONS   AND    EVANGELIZATION.        63 

Two  illustrations  suggest  themselves.  The 
United  Synod,  South,  has  the  Foreign  Missionary 
spirit  richly  developed.  Japan  is  their  field,  but,  be- 
cause of  their  comparatively  limited  resources,  they 
cannot  carry  on  the  work  without  help.  The  base  of 
supplies  is  not  sufficient.  The  Pittsburgh  Synod  is 
a  great  Home  Mission  Synod.  It  is  also  a  great 
Foreign  Mission  Synod.  Because  they  have  in- 
creased so  rapidly  at  home,  they  are  able  to  do  vastly 
more  for  missions  abroad. 

Home  Missions  develop  the  spirit  which  is  neces- 
sary to  evangelize  the  world.  Before  the  extensive 
can  be  successful,  the  intensive  must  precede  it. 
Too  often  the  advocates  of  Foreign  Missions  act 
as  though  all  that  is  necessary  for  their  successful 
support  is  to  talk  and  talk  Foreign  Missions.  Rec- 
ollect, however,  that  Foreign  Missions  is  the  most 
beautiful  flower  of  Christian  service.  The  flower 
can  never  bloom  perfectly  without  diligent  cultiva- 
tion of  the  stalk.  It  needs,  in  other  words,  a  strong 
Christian  life  of  service  and  consecration  back  of  it 
out  of  which  it  must  vigorously  spring.  Unless  this 
be  diligently  cultivated  at  home,  there  never  will  be 
the  rich  and  beautiful  service  abroad  that  is  possible. 

If  we  study  the  formal  initiation  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sion work,  the  sending  forth  of  Paul  and  Barnabas 
by  the  church  at  Antioch  under  the  direction  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  we  find  it  was  from  a  church,  serving 
at  home  and  consecrated,  that  the  missionaries  were 


64  HOME    MISSIONS. 

sent.  Recall  its  history,  its  fervor,  its  care  of  the 
gentiles  at  Antioch,  until  certain  Jewish  Christians 
grew  angry,  the  coming  of  Barnabas,  his  incessant 
teaching  wearing  him  out,  until  he  must  needs  go 
after  Paul  with  the  flashing  eye  and  great  heart  to 
help  him.  There  was  a  year's  work  of  Home  Mis- 
sion work.  They  cared  not  only  for  the  unchurched 
in  Antioch,  but  when  the  Mother  Church  in  Jeru- 
salem was  in  want,  they  gave  every  man  according 
to  his  ability  to  sustain  the  home  church,  and  sent 
their  collections  by  the  hands  of  Barnabas  and  Paul. 
This  church  was  in  a  constant  revival,  ever  serving, 
ever  praying.  It  was  to  this  church,  whose  life  had 
grown  great  by  intensive  cultivation,  that  the  com- 
mand came  to  separate  their  best  men  for  the  for- 
eign field,  and  the  response  was  immediate. 

Why  not?  The  church  that  neglects  its  own  has 
denied  the  faith  and  is  worse  than  infidel.  At  home 
there  must  be  developed  that  spirit  of  unselfishness, 
Christ-longing  sacrifice,  which  must  be  the  life  of 
all  Foreign  Mission  endeavor. 

If  we  Lutherans  will  not  heed  the  cries  of  our  own 
children  for  the  bread  of  life ;  if  the  Lutherans  of  the 
Mother  churches  abroad  coming  to  our  own  shores 
are  not  fed  by  us;  if  we  have  not  the  Christ-spirit 
to  care  for  them  and  give  them  ministers  and 
churches,  we  are  not  fit  to  enter  the  foreign  field. 
Their  cries  will  go  before  God  and  He  will  hear 
and  withhold  His  blessing.     But,  if  we  heed  these 


HOME    MISSIONS   AND    EVANGEIylZATlON.        65 

cries  and  respond,  our  hearts  will  glow  with  Christ's 
love  for  all,  and  we  will  be  ready  to  send  our  best, 
to  give  largely  that  the  gospel  may  be  carried  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  The  intensive  must  precede  the 
extensive.  The  intensive  will  engender  the  spirit 
on  which  the  Church  lives  and  thrives — the  achieve- 
ment  of  the  impossible.  The  early  Christians  who 
went  into  Antioch,  that  profligate,  wicked  and  lux- 
urious city,  and  built  a  church,  knew  by  that  success 
that  they  could  achieve  the  impossible.  They  were 
ready  for  Foreign  Mission  work  and  sure  that  they 
would  overcome  all  difficulties.  Trained  and  drilled, 
they  were  ready  for  any  task. 

Jowett  tells  this : 

"An  incident  which  will  become  immortal  took 
place  at  Messina  two  days  after  the  recent  earth- 
quake. The  captain  and  crew  of  a  Welsh  steamboat 
were  passing  along  the  ruined  streets  of  the  town 
when  they  say  two  children  upon  the  balcony  of  a 
house,  the  front  wall  of  which  only  remained.  The 
captain  of  the  boat  pointed  to  the  children,  and, 
turning  to  his  men,  said,  'Now,  Smith !'  In  a  mo- 
ment Smith  was  clambering  up  the  tottering  pile. 
But  he  found  the  task  too  great  for  him.  'Now, 
Reid!'  said  the  captain,  and  without  a  moment's 
hesitation  another  man  was  climbing  the  ruins.  Let 
us  put  ourselves  in  the  place  of  these  men.  Our 
Captain  points   to  the   impossible  task,   and   says, 

'Now,  Jowett!  Now,  !'     What  is  our  answer? 

5 


66  HOME    MISSIONS. 

Is  it  ready  obedience  ?  The  only  difference  between 
our  Captain  and  the  captain  of  the  Welsh  vessel  is 
that  the  latter  said,  'Now,  Smith!  Now,  Reid!' 
while  our  Captain  says,  'Come  on,  Smith!  Come 
on,  Reid!'  and  He  is  already  on  the  tottering  pile 
before  us." 

But,  this  was  possible  because  these  men  were 
sailors,  trained  and  drilled  to  keep  their  footing  on 
the  mast.  The  daily  drill  with  Christ  must  be  first, 
then  the  impossible. 

Home  Missions,  moreover,  in  this  land  often 
spells  Foreign  Missions.  I  do  not  mean  that  the 
heroic  and  unselfish  spirit  which  the  Home  Mission 
Church  develops  often  culminates  in  the  pastor  or 
one  of  the  flock  going  into  the  foreign  field,  but,  be- 
cause as  we  have  here  peoples  of  all  nations,  by 
teaching  them  we  raise  up  missionaries  for  the  for- 
eign field.  I  fear  we  as  Lutherans  are  too  much 
occupied  with  "our  own,"  and  forget  that  the  for- 
eigner in  our  land,  who  is  heathen,  is  our  care. 

"To  be  a  missionary  to  'our  own  people,'  here 
in  America,  would  mean  to  be  a  missionary  to  nearly 
every  race  under  the  sun.  The  most  interesting  side- 
light in  modern  life  on  this  phase  of  Christian  work 
is  a  new  interrelation  between  Home  and  Foreign 
Missions,  as  a  result  of  missionary  activity  among 
our  foreigners.  It  is  not  an  unusual  experience  that 
many  converts  among  aliens  are  possessed  with  a 
great  passion  to  go  back  to  their  own  country  and 


HOME   MISSIONS   AND    EVANGEUZATION.        67 

tell  the  'good  news.'  When  Paul  became  a  Chris- 
tian, his  first  thoughts  were  for  his  own  people.  The 
illustrations  of  this  point  are  numerous.  The  fol- 
lowing recent  incident  has  these  two  different  ele- 
ments of  interest: 

"In  a  mission  to  the  Chinese  of  one  of  our  great 
cities  two  young  Chinese  came  some  years  ago,  and, 
after  months  of  patient  waiting,  gave  evidence  that 
they  had  learned  'the  true  doctrine'  and  became  fol- 
lowers of  Jesus  Christ.  Soon  afterward  one  of  them 
went  back  to  China.  He  carried  with  him  some 
Chinese  New  Testaments  and  tracts,  and  after  he 
reached  his  old  home  he  invited  the  young  men  of 
the  village  to  come  to  his  house  to  study  the  Bible. 
They  came  willingly  enough,  but  when  they  realized 
that  he  was  teaching  them  the  'Jesus  religion'  they 
left  him  quickly  and  reviled  him  bitterly.  Then  he 
began  to  gather  the  people  on  the  streets  to  tell  them 
the  gospel  story.  They  had  never  heard  it  before; 
he  was  the  only  Christian  in  all  the  district,  and  they 
might  have  listened  gladly,  but  the  old  men  said, 
'No !  We  cannot  have  this  western  religion  brought 
here,'  and  they  began  to  persecute  him.  Many  times 
he  was  stoned,  beaten,  spit  upon.  Once  the  villagers 
threatened  to  burn  down  his  house.  Yet  none  of 
these  things  moved  him.  He  continued  to  teach 
wherever  and  whenever  he  could,  and  gradually  his 
gentle  life  won  them.     Slowly  they  began  to  listen 


68  HOME    MISSIONS. 

to  him,  and  one  day  the  young  men  came  back  and 
asked  him  to  start  the  class  for  them  again. 

"All  of  this  he  wrote  to  his  friend  in  Washington, 
D.  C,  and  the  heart  of  that  young  man  burned 
within  him.  He  knew  how  those  villagers  needed 
to  hear  the  gospel  story,  he  knew  what  their  heathen- 
ism meant.  He  was  only  a  poor  laundryman, 
spending  twelve  and  fourteen  weary  hours  each  day 
over  the  tub  and  ironing-board,  yet  he  wrote  to  his 
friend  begging  him  to  give  up  all  other  work  and 
devote  all  of  his  time  to  telling  the  people  of  the  vil- 
lage of  the  salvation  of  Jesus  Christ.  'If  you  will 
do  this,'  he  wrote,  'I  will  stay  here  and  run  the  laun- 
dry, and  send  you  one  hundred  dollars  every  year 
to  pay  your  expenses.'  " 

Home  Missions  in  our  land,  to  which  all  nations 
come,  may  therefore  provide  missionaries  to  the 
nations  that  know  nothing  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  thus  aid  in  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 

Home  Missions  are  necessary  to  world  evangeliza- 
tion because  they  keep  the  Christian  nations  Chris- 
tian and  bring  to  bear  upon  the  heathen  the  influ- 
ence of  Christian  civilization  and  national  power. 

What,  humanly  speaking,  made  the  missionary 
work  of  the  early  church  possible?  The  Roman 
Empire,  that  by  its  laws  insured  them  safety.  The 
Church  grew  under  these  laws  until  it  could  stand 
by  itself. 

What  do  we  see  to-day?    We  see  Christian  mis- 


HOME    MISSIONS   AND    EVANGELIZATION.        69 

sionaries  protected  by  the  Christian  nations  amid 
peoples  intensely  hostile  and  ready  to  kill  them. 
They  are  safe  because  these  peoples  fear  the  Chris- 
tian powers.  Sometimes  the  hatred  breaks  forth, 
as  in  the  Boxer  uprising  in  China  and  the  Moslem 
atrocities,  but  the  Christian  governments  with 
navies  and  soldiers  restore  order  and  safety.  There 
were  failures  in  earlier  centuries  of  enthusiastic  mis- 
sionaries because  they  had  not  this  protection.  The 
time  was  not  fully  come  for  Foreign  Missions.  If 
India  should  throw  off  British  rule,  India  Missions 
might  be  blotted  out. 

These  later  years  have  brought  the  heathen  na- 
tions in  contact  with  the  Christian  nations.  They 
realize  there  is  something  in  their  civilization  and 
methods  they  have  not,  and  they  begin  to  see  it  is 
in  their  religion  the  secret  of  their  progress  and 
power  of  Christian  States  lies. 

They  are  inclined,  therefore,  to  study  this  re- 
ligion, as  is  notably  the  case  with  the  Japanese.  The 
religious  life,  therefore,  of  the  home  nation  must  be 
maintained  and  increased.  We  think  too  oft  of  the 
Church  as  a  fixed  number,  as  though  it  were  a  great 
building  where  stone  is  laid  upon  stone  and  which 
abides  through  all  time,  needing  but  other  addi- 
tions to  make  it  greater.  The  truer  figure  is  that  of 
the  flowing  river,  which  abides,  but,  where  the  drops 
that  form  it  continually  come  and  go.  When  the 
fountains    on    mountain    side   and   valley    fail    the 


70  HOME   MISSIONS. 

river  dries  to  its  bed  and  is  no  more.  Even  so  the 
Church  is  made  up  of  the  souls  that  to-day  are 
born  and  to-morrow  die.  The  coming  generations 
must  be  continually  won  and  trained.  The  Church  is 
eternal,  but  it  is  also  ever  new.  To  maintain  and 
increase  the  work  of  Home  Missions  is  therefore 
imperative. 

And  in  this  nation  we  Lutherans  have  a  great 
part  to  play.  For  we  have  set  clearly  before  us 
and  hold  unflinchingly  to  the  world-wide  truths 
without  which  there  can  be  no  world-wide  evan- 
gelization. 

What  are  those  truths  which  the  world  needs 
and  Christianity  alone  has  ? 

The  revelation  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  through 
Christ,  who  has  set  Him  forth  by  teachings  and 
life;  the  message  of  redemption  through  the  atone- 
ment of  Christ ;  the  righteousness  through  faith,  in- 
ward holiness,  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
change  the  sinner  and  to  sanctify  the  believer. 

Moreover,  that  we  have  a  sure  word  of  revelation, 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  word  of  God,  that  means 
of  grace  whereby  the  Spirit  does  His  work.  To 
maintain  this  religious  life  and  to  increase  it  is  the 
work  of  the  home  Church  that  Foreign  Missions 
may  have  behind  them  the  influence  and  power  of 
the  Christian  nations,  safeguarding  them,  that  the 
righteousness  of  our  national  life  may  be  pointed  to 
as  an  exemplar  of  what  Christianity  is  and  effects. 


HOME    MISSIONS   AND    EVANGEUZATION.        7 1 

For  these  reasons  Home  Missions  claim  support 
that  the  evangehzation  of  the  world  may  be  made 
possible.  We  well  understand  that  we  cannot  stop 
short  of  the  conquest  of  the  world  for  Christ.  "The 
kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms 
of  our  Lord  and  Christ ;  and  He  shall  reign  forever 
and  ever."  This  is  the  promise  that  thrills.  We, 
too,  lift  up  our  eyes  and  behold  the  nations  to  whom 
we  must  bring  the  light.  But,  we  also  see  that  we 
must  retain  what  we  have.  We  must  infuse  into  the 
home  Christians  a  larger  spirit.  We  must  go  from 
what  we  have  to  the  greater  work,  the  winning  of 
the  heathen  to  Christ. 


VI 

THE  UNBALANCED  LEDGERS 


THE  UNBALANCED  LEDGERS  OF  HOME 
MISSIONS. 

REV.  ELLIS  B.  BURGESS. 

The  balancing  of  the  ledgers  is  an  important 
task  in  every  successful  business  house.  The  man 
who  collects  well  is  the  man  who  wins.  It  is  the 
plan  of  this  paper  to  open  up  the  account  of  America 
with  the  Church  of  the  Reformation  and  endeavor 
to  strike  a  just  and  righteous  balance.  The  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Church  has  been  doing  business 
in  this  western  world  for  many  years;  not  a  word 
has  been  said  as  to  the  desirability  of  closing  up  the 
account;  yet  it  is  a  matter  of  general  interest  to 
study  the  ledgers  and  see  how  the  account  stands. 
If  Martin  Luther  had  been  born  a  few  hundred 
years  earlier  we  would  be  compelled  to  credit  the 
discovery  of  America  to  a  Lutheran.  As  it  is,  the 
first  entry  is  credited  to  Danes,  under  date  of  Febru- 
ary 20th,  1620,  when  Rasmus  Jensen,  the  first  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  pastor  of  America,  was  laid  to  rest 
on  the  shores  of  the  Hudson  Bay.  It  is  well  to  re- 
member that  this  was  eight  months  before  the  Pil- 
grim Fathers  opened  their  account  at  Plymouth 
Rock.  The  next  items  of  the  account  are  entered 
in  Swedish,  in  1638,  and  charge  America  with  one 

(75) 


76  HOME   MISSIONS. 

Swedish  Lutheran  pastor,  one  Swedish  Lutheran 
church,  and  two  boat  loads  of  thrifty  Swedish  Luth- 
eran farmers.  The  handwriting  of  Dutch  next  ap- 
pears in  the  ledger,  under  date  of  June  6th,  1657, 
when  Pastor  John  Ernest  Goetwater  began  to  preach 
to  his  Lutheran  countrymen,  on  Manhattan  Island. 
This  account  seems  to  have  been  closed  rather  sud- 
denly on  May  20th,  1658,  in  red  ink,  with  the  coun- 
ter charge,  "Lutheran  minister  and  some  bad  women 
sent  back  to  Holland."  This  does  not  mean  that 
the  minister  himself  was  bad;  it  only  means  that 
official  New  Amsterdam  was  not  able  to  appreciate 
the  value  of  Lutheran  missionaries  as  do  the  New 
Yorkers  of  the  present  day.  The  familiar  hand- 
writing of  our  Pennsylvania  German  fathers  does 
not  appear  in  the  ledger  until  1683,  and  then  the 
entries  are  few ;  in  1700  we  read  the  name  of  Falck- 
ner;  in  1742,  the  name  of  Muhlenberg;  and  for  the 
next  fifty  years  the  entries  come  so  thick  and  fast 
that  hundreds  of  pages  are  filled,  and  the  great  State 
of  Pennsylvania  is  charged  with  her  very  life's 
blood.  During  the  two  hundred  and  eighty-nine 
years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  opening  of  the 
account,  the  Lutheran  Church  has  planted  her  evan- 
gelizing forces  in  every  part  of  the  land,  and  through 
her  more  than  80,000  pastors — ministers,  directly 
or  indirectly,  to  fully  10,000,000  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States.  By  her  schools  and  churches  she 
has  made  immense  contributions  to  the  righteous- 


UNBALANCED  LEDGERS  OF  HOME  MISSIONS.     77 

ness  that  "exalteth  a  nation,"  and  won  the  admira- 
tion and  praise  of  our  greatest  national  leaders. 

Now  the  planting-  of  the  Church  is,  in  a  peculiar 
sense,  a  Home  Mission  work,  and  we  therefore  call 
your  attention  to — 

I.  The  open  account  of  America  zvith  Home 
Missions.  An  open  account  it  is ;  an  open  account 
it  ever  shall  be;  for  no  man  can  foresee  the  day 
when  the  people  of  America  can  afford  to  close  it. 
Home  Missions  breathed  into  this  western  world 
the  breath  of  the  Christ  and  America  became  a 
Christian  land.  Of  all  the  nations  of  the  world, 
none  are  so  deeply  indebted  to  Home  Missions  as 
our  own.  To  this  agency  of  the  Church  she  owes 
practically  everything  that  has  made  her  queen  of 
the  nations.  A  little  more  than  two  centuries  ago 
the  population  of  the  United  States  was  less  than 
200,000,  and  sharply  confined  to  the  Atlantic  coast. 
But  the  spirit  of  adventure  was  "bred  in  the  bone" 
of  these  people,  and  soon  men  like  Boone  and  Craw- 
ford began  to  lead  the  way  to  the  West.  After  the 
treaty  of  Fort  Stanvix,  in  1768,  a  perfect  stream 
of  hardy  pioneers  poured  through  the  defiles  of  the 
Alleghenies  and  began  to  take  up  the  rich  farming 
lands  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  basin.  Some 
came  from  American  homes ;  many  more  came  from 
lands  across  the  sea.  To  follow  these  people  with 
the  gospel,  gathering  them  into  regular  congrega- 
tions, and  hold  the  new  world  securely  for  Christ 


78  HOME   MISSIONS. 

was  the  work  of  Home  Missions.  And  no  great 
undertaking  of  the  Church  was  ever  carried  out 
more  successfully.  The  farming  people  of  this, 
the  greatest  agricultural  valley  of  the  world,  are  a 
people  whose  sturdy  Christian  faith  and  robust  char- 
acter challenge  universal  admiration.  A  second  im- 
portant task  was  laid  upon  the  Church  when  the 
gleam  of  yellow  gold  was  first  discovered  in  the 
streams  of  California.  The  news  spread  like  wild- 
fire, and  thousands  of  bold,  adventurous  men  fought 
their  way  through  the  mountains  or  made  the  long 
voyage  around  the  cape  to  the  Pacific  coast.  From 
South  America,  Europe  and  China,  as  well  as  the 
Atlantic  coast,  the  throngs  poured  in.  So  unpar- 
alleled was  the  inrush  that  in  an  incredible  time  there 
was  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  adventurers,  energetic, 
reckless  and  dangerous.  Gambling  was  a  universal 
passion  and  indulged  in  on  a  colossal  scale.  .  .  .  The 
Parker  House,  a  two-story  frame  building,  rented 
for  $120,000.00  a  year,  gamblers  paying  for  the  en- 
tire second  floor.  Outlaws  poured  from  every  part  of 
the  world.  Justice  could  not  be  properly  admin- 
istered. .  .  .  In  1 85 1,  San  Francisco  found  burg- 
lary, arson  and  murder  so  frightfully  rampant  that 
the  courts  seemed  to  shield  rather  than  convict  crim- 
inals. To  reduce  this  wild  outlawry  to  civilized 
order  and  temper  it  with  the  spirit  of  Christ  was 
the  work  of  Home  Missions.    How  well  it  was  done, 


UNBALANCED  LEDGERS  OF  HOME  MISSIONS.     79 

let  history  testify.  Beautiful  California  is  the  flower 
crown  of  Home  Missions. 

Such  a  mighty  agency  for  good  is  never  idle. 
And  there  was  never  a  time  in  the  history  of  our 
country  when  its  services  were  more  imperatively 
needed  than  now. 

The  problem  of  the  city  and  the  problem  of  the 
immigrant  are  greater  problems  than  Home  Mis- 
sions has  ever  been  called  upon  to  solve  before. 
More  than  a  million  of  strangers  are  coming  to  our 
shores  every  year;  some  of  them  are  lovers  of  the 
soil  like  their  German  and  Scandinavian  predeces- 
sors of  a  generation  ago;  many  more  are  settling 
in  the  slums  of  our  already  overcrowded  cities,  mak- 
ing their  assimilation  a  problem  of  the  most  serious 
import. 

Here  is  where  the  call  of  Lutheran  Home  Mis- 
sions grows  luminous,  and  where  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church  proves  her  sterling  worth  to 
America.  With  the  exception  of  the  Italians,  there 
is  scarcely  a  foreigner  who  lands  at  Castle  Garden, 
New  York,  whom  she  is  not  in  a  position  to  help  be- 
cause of  a  previous  contact  with  his  people  in  the 
mother  country.  Granting  that  the  best  work  of 
the  Lutheran  missionary  is  done  among  the  Ger- 
mans and  Scandinavians,  it  is  still  true  that  he  pos- 
sesses an  advantage  over  the  missionaries  of  other 
churches  in  ministering  to  the  incoming  hosts  from 
Russia,  Poland  and  Austro-Hungary.     In  spite  of 


8o  HOME   MISSIONS. 

the  shifting  of  the  sources  of  immigration  to  south- 
ern lands,  statistics  still  show  that  200  out  of  every 
895  persons  coming  to  our  shores  are  baptized  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  Church.  If  we  but  take  proper 
care  of  our  own,  we  have  done  much  to  solve  the 
immigrant  problem  and  relieve  the  anxiety  of  the 
nation. 

Then,  again,  America  is  indebted  to  Lutheran 
Home  Missions  as  a  conservator  of  the  gospel.  This 
is  a  day  of  cheap  imitations,  and  even  the  gospel  has 
not  been  spared.  Thousands  of  people  seem  satisfied 
with  the  rankest  kind  of  an  imitation.  But  every 
Lutheran  mission  established  in  the  land  will  serve 
as  a  living  protest  against  superficial  show  and  as 
a  beacon  light  to  guide  the  people  back  to  solid 
ground  in  religion. 

Radicalism  has  spent  its  force  in  America;  and 
although  we  shall  continue  to  pay  its  bad  bills  for 
many  years  to  come,  there  are  evidences  of  a  change 
in  the  account.  Recently  a  meeting  of  the  operators 
of  the  Connellsville  coke  region  was  held  at  Scott- 
dale,  Pa.,  the  avowed  purpose  of  which  was  the 
adoption  of  more  conservative  methods  of  mining. 
The  old  "hurry  up  and  get  it  out  quick"  methods 
have  resulted  in  the  waste  of  thousands  of  tons 
of  good  coal  as  well  as  hundreds  of  precious  lives, 
and  these  operators  have  at  last  come  to  see  that 
there  is  a  tremendous  value  in  conservatism  even  in 
coal  mining. 


UNBALANCED  LEDGERS  OF  HOME  MISSIONS.     8l 

Now,  then,  what  these  business  men  propose  to 
do  for  human  hfe  in  the  coke  region,  that  Lutheran 
Home  Missions  is  endeavoring  to  do  for  the  re- 
Hgious  life  of  the  nation.  The  rush  of  radicahsm 
during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  has  been  as 
fatal  to  our  religious  as  to  our  business  interests. 
The  Church  of  the  Puritan,  so  long  regarded  the 
bulwark  of  American  Protestantism,  has  been 
swept  from  her  historic  moorings.  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary  has  gone  down  in  the  wreck ;  Yale 
Divinity  School  is  beginning  to  flutter  distress  sig- 
nals, and  the  end  is  not  yet.  All  New  England  has 
been  infected  by  it ;  it  is  the  very  air  they  breathe — 
a  subtle,  almost  indefinable  infidelity  that  is  corrupt- 
ing the  very  fountains  of  spiritual  life  and  power. 
But  in  the  midst  of  all  this  change  and  confusion, 
listen  to  the  testimony  of  the  Lutheran  Church : 
"Prove  all  things,  hold  fast  to  that  which  is  good." 
Mark  the  loyalty  of  her  more  than  eight  thousand 
pastors.  Not  one  of  them  publicly  questions  the 
integrity  of  the  Bible  or  the  cleansing  power  of  the 
blood  of  the  cross.  The  doctrines  of  the  Holy  Trin- 
ity, original  sin,  the  person  of  Christ,  justification 
by  faith,  new  obedience,  the  Church  and  the  means 
of  grace,  as  outlined  in  the  Augsburg  Confession, 
were  never  more  earnestly  believed  and  taught. 
These  are  the  principles  for  which  Lutheran  Home 
Mission  work  stands,  and  these  are  the  principles 
that  will  yet  save  America  and  the  world.  And 
6 


82  HOME    MISSIONS. 

when  the  wreck  of  Unitarian  rationalism  has  finally 
been  cleared  away,  the  people  of  America  will  begin 
to  realize  and  acknowledge  the  vastness  of  the  na- 
tional debt  to  Lutheran  Home  Missions. 

And  now  we  desire  to  make  another  study  of 
these  "unbalanced  ledgers"  with  a  view  to  present- 
ing— 

II.  The  open  account  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
of  the  General  Synod  with  her  Home  Mission  Board. 

It  is  important  not  only  to  have  a  proper  under- 
standing of  the  obligations  of  America  to  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Church  at  large,  but  also  a  clear 
conception  of  our  indebtedness  as  a  Church  to  the 
Board  of  Home  Missions  within  our  own  bounds. 
This  Board  has  been  doing  business  for  a  period  of 
forty  years.  During  that  time  it  has  opened  up 
accounts  in  many  parts  of  the  land  and  placed  the 
Church  under  heavy  obligations.  The  first  charges 
are  entered  under  the  names  of  Des  Moines  and 
Tipton,  Iowa;  Van  Wert  and  Urbana,  Ohio;  Kan- 
sas City  and  St.  Louis,  Mo. ;  Wheeling,  W.  Va. ; 
Atchison,  Lawrence,  Grasshopper  Falls  and  Topeka, 
Kan.,  Oakley,  Wis. ;  Elkhart,  Ind.,  and  Galesburg, 
Buena  Vista  and  Princeton,  111.  Some  of  these  mis- 
sion points  failed  to  develop,  but  others  are  to-day 
numbered  among  the  leading  churches  of  the  Gen- 
eral Synod.  An  itemized  account  of  the  Board 
shows  the  extent  of  its  business  in  the  various  Dis- 
trict Synods: 


UNBALANCED  LEDGERS  OF  HOME  MISSIONS.     83 

Missions  Aided.  Expended. 

Alleghany  Synod il  ^16,275  00 

Central  Pennsylvania  Synod 7  9,980  00 

East  Pennsylvania  Synod 55  63,876  00 

Franckean  Synod 6  8, 762  00 

Hartwick  Synod 9  20,147  0° 

Maryland  Synod 50  55,744  00 

New  York  and  New  Jersey  Synod 36  78,544  00 

Pittsburgh  Synod 35  58,964  00 

Susquehanna  Synod 20  29,254  00 

West  Pennsylvania  Synod 16  10,850  00 

East  Ohio  Synod 17  35,38800 

Wittenberg  Synod 14  24,500  00 

Miami  Synod 19  41,36400 

Northern  Indiana  Synod 23  39,oi6  00 

Olive  Branch  Synod 19  51,25400 

Wartburg  Synod 9  6,38800 

Northern  Illinois  Synod 44  66,737  00 

Central  Illinois  Synod 14  24,592  00 

Southern  Illinois  Synod i  450  00 

Iowa  Synod 30  77,037  00 

Kansas  Synod 47  105,001  00 

Nebraska  Synod 45  81,441  00 

German  Nebraska  Synod 19  7,172  00 

Rocky  Mountain  Synod 16  42,758  00 

California  Synod 23  89,280  00 


585  :?944,775  00 

The  expenditure  of  $944,775.00  for  the  support 
of  585  missions,  embracing  nearly  700  congrega- 
tions, during  these  forty  years  of  the  Board's  history 
represents  merely  the  investment  of  its  original  capi- 
tal. On  the  basis  of  this  original  investment,  the 
people  who  were  gathered  into  these  missions,  even 
while  they  were  still  under  the  care  of  the  Board, 


84  HOME   MISSIONS. 

contributed  a  round  five  million  dollars  for  church 
purposes,  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  which  found  its 
way  back  into  the  benevolent  treasuries  of  the  Gen- 
eral Synod.  A  business  man  would  call  that  kind  of 
an  investment  a  bonanza.  But  that  is  not  a  full 
statement  of  the  account.  To  these  five  million  dol- 
lars must  be  added  many  millions  more  which  have 
been  contributed  by  these  mission  churches  after 
they  have  reached  the  position  of  self-support. 
Every  dollar  contributed  by  the  California,  Rocky 
Mountain,  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  Iowa  Synods 
must  be  credited  to  this  account,  for  these  Synods 
were  all  created  by  pure  Home  Mission  effort.  In 
the  East,  the  debt  seems  to  be  almost  as  great  as  in 
the  West.  The  self-supporting  missions  of  the 
Pittsburgh  Synod  last  year  gave  more  than  40  per 
cent,  of  the  entire  contributions  of  their  Synod ;  the 
self-supporting  missions  of  the  East  Pennsylvania 
Synod  gave  more  than  30  per  cent,  of  the  total  con- 
tributions of  that  Synod.  If  the  same  proportion 
holds  good  both  East  and  West,  more  than  one-third 
of  the  entire  contributions  of  the  General  Synod  last 
year  must  be  credited  as  a  legitimate  return  from 
that  original  investment  of  the  Board  of  Home  Mis- 
sions. And  in  addition  to  these  large  financial  re- 
turns, here  stand  incalculable  spiritual  results,  the 
real  end  of  all  Home  Mission  effort.  The  spirit  of 
Home  Missions  puts  new  life  into  the  individual 
congregation ;  it  vitalizes  the  synodical  body ;  it  aids 


UNBALANCED  LEDGERS  OF    HOME  MISSIONS.     85 

in  the  development  of  every  other  benevolent  agency 
of  the  Church. 

The  history  of  the  Pittsburgh  Synod  gives  us  a 
remarkable  example  of  this  truth.  There  are  two 
very  sharply  defined  eras  in  the  history  of  this  Synod 
since  the  rupture  of  1868.  The  first  era,  from  1868 
to  1885,  may  be  defined  as  an  era  of  self-preserva- 
tion; the  second  era,  from  1885  to  the  present  time, 
may  be  defined  as  the  era  of  Home  Missions.  The 
year  1885  is  fixed  as  the  dividing  line  because  at 
that  time  the  present  aggressive  missionary  policies 
of  the  Synod  were  outlined  and  the  Indiana  county 
churches  from  the  Alleghany  Synod  gave  sufficient 
strength  to  carry  them  out.  A  comparison  between 
the  results  of  the  last  fifteen  years  of  the  older  order 
and  the  first  fifteen  years  of  the  new  order  will  help 
us  to  see  how  much  the  General  Synod  in  Western 
Pennsylvania  owes  to  Home  Missions.  Between 
1870  and  1885  the  Synod  increased  in  membership 
from  3481  to  4499,  an  average  annual  increase  of 
only  68  members.  That  was  the  actual  result  of  the 
plan  of  Self-Development.  From  1885  to  1900, 
the  Synod  increased  in  membership  from  4499  to 
11,938.  Deducting  the  1257  communicants  of  the 
churches  received  from  the  Alleghany  Synod,  these 
figures  still  show  an  annual  gain  of  412.  That  was 
the  actual  result  of  operative  Home  Missions.  In 
the  earlier  years  of  this  Home  Mission  era  there  were 
those  who  openly  contended  that  the  Synod  was  pay- 


86  HOME   MISSIONS. 

ing  too  much  attention  to  Home  Missions  and  neg- 
lecting the  other  benevolent  work  of  the  Church. 
But  what  are  the  actual  facts  of  the  case?  Take 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  as  an  example.  In 
the  year  1885  the  Synod  gave  to  this  Board  $720.00; 
in  1895,  with  the  Home  Mission  spirit  beginning  to 
make  itself  felt  among  its  congregations,  it  gave 
$1,116.00;  and  in  1908,  with  this  spirit  becoming  a 
passion  in  the  hearts  of  many,  it  gave  the  splendid 
sum  of  $4,022,00.  Let  every  advocate  of  world- 
wide evangelization  rise  and  pay  his  respects  to 
Home  Missions.  The  care  of  the  "lost  sheep"  of 
the  Lutheran  household  in  America  has  prepared 
this  Synod  to  "preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature" 
as  nothing  else  could  have  done.  There  is  not  a 
benevolent  Board  of  the  Church  that  has  not  felt  the 
uplift  of  the  Home  Mission  triumphs  of  Western 
Pennsylvania.  This  increase  of  giving  is  due  not 
simply  to  an  increase  in  the  number  of  givers,  but 
also  in  the  spirit  of  giving.  The  benevolent  gifts 
of  the  Pittsburgh  Synod,  in  1884,  amounted  to 
$3,284.00,  or  71  cents  per  member;  the  benevolence 
of  the  same  Synod,  in  1908,  amounted  to  $31,- 
115.00,  or  $1.90  per  member.  And  so  the  account 
of  the  Church  with  her  Home  Mission  Board  keeps 
growing  with  the  years.  We  cannot  close  it  if  we 
would.  And  the  burden  of  our  obligation  will  con- 
tinue to  increase  until  the  Church  is  crushed  beneath 
it  to  her  knees  before  the  throne  of  God,  and  cries 


UNBALANCED  LEDGERS  OF  HOME  MISSIONS.     87 

out,  "Great  Head  of  the  Church,  bless  and  prosper 
this  great  world-saving  cause  of  Home  Missions." 
Then,  and  not  until  then,  will  it  be  possible  to  bal- 
ance the  ledgers  and  satisfy  the  obligation. 


VII 

HOME  MISSIONS  AND  THE  CHRISTIAN 
CIVILIZATION  OF  OUR  COUNTRY 


HOME   MISSIONS   AND   THE   CHRISTIAN 
CIVILIZATION  OF  OUR  COUNTRY. 

J.   M.   REIMENSNYDER^  D.D. 

The  future  of  our  country  presents  the  mightiest 
problem  of  the  ages.  It  is  universally  recognized  by 
statesmen  of  both  continents,  churchmen  and  his- 
torians, that  all  history  and  Providence  point  to  this 
country  as  the  key  to  the  future  of  civilization.  Here 
the  great  Anglo-Saxon  races  have  contributed  their 
best  blood  and  centered  their  hopes.  Here  the  lead- 
ing languages  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  English  and 
the  German,  are  spoken  by  the  largest  number  of 
our  citizens,  and  are  the  tongues  of  our  educational 
resources.  Here  we  have  the  territory  unlimited,  as 
in  no  other  land  of  the  globe.  Intelligence,  genius, 
social  advantages,  avenues  of  wealth,  liberty,  free- 
dom of  speech,  personal  rights,  ownership,  in  fact, 
all  the  attracting  forces  known  to  man  are  present  in 
the  largest  reach. 

In  this  new  world,  with  its  unlimited  acres  and 
unmeasured  mines  and  splendid  opportunities,  which 
are  drawing  the  millions  of  other  lands  within  its 
borders,  with  all  their  foreign  elements  of  character 
and  notions  of  civilization,  the  Bible  must  be  our 
common  refuge,  our  means  of  safety,  our  hope  of 

(91) 


92  HOME    MISSIONS. 

perpetuating  our  splendid  heritages  and  the  protec- 
tion of  our  civilization.  Already  the  census  of  1900 
shows  that  out  of  a  population  of  76,000,000, 
26,000,000  were  of  foreign  parentage,  and  of  this 
number  10,000,000  were  of  foreign  birth  and  that 
in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  forty-eight  languages 
are  spoken.  The  Church  must  meet  this  wonderful 
problem  with  the  Bible  translated  in  as  many  lan- 
guages as  are  spoken.  This  population  centers  in 
certain  portions  of  our  great  cities  and  in  the  re- 
motest portions  of  our  land.  To  minister  to  this 
population  of  nearly  80,000,000  now  estimated, 
there  are  about  300,000  ministers  of  the  gospel  and 
as  many  churches.  These  figures  show  at  once  the 
vast  field  for  the  work  of  Home  Missions,  the  ac- 
knowledged greatest  factor  in  their  American 
civilization.  No  wonder  that  the  Boards  of  Home 
Missions  in  this  country  of  all  denominations  so 
earnestly  plead  for  funds.  Here  is  the  greatest  hope 
of  the  nation  and  of  the  Church.  The  admitted  hope 
of  the  world.  Christianity  has  centered  her  forces 
here  as  for  her  last  stand  in  the  bringing  of  the 
world  to  Christ.  This  country  must  be  held  to 
Christ  and  to  its  fundamental  laws  and  institutions, 
its  religious  heritages,  at  all  cost. 

The    thoughtful    student    of    history,    the    loyal 
patriot  and  the  devout  Christian,  alike  must  see  this 
greatest  duty  and  this  divine  Providence  opening  to 
us  in  this  country  the  greatest  Home  Mission  fields 


HOME  MISSIONS  AND  CHRISTIAN  CIVILIZATION.       93 

of  the  world  and  the  ripest  and  richest  spiritual  and 
eternal  harvests  of  all  ages  and  history.  We  have 
the  wealth  and  the  intelligence  and  all  the  needed 
forces  to  accomplish  this  work  if  we  will  arise  and 
build.  Build  for  eternal  results,  for  God  and  our 
country,  the  noblest  civilization  and  citizenship  of 
all  time.  This  work  presents  itself  with  greatly 
increased  responsibility  upon  the  Evangelical  Lu- 
theran Church. 

First.  She  has  the  greatest  responsibility,  be- 
cause she  is  the  Mother  Church  of  the  Protestant 
Reformation,  and  from  her  founders  came  the  great 
Magna  Charta  of  Christian  faith  and  liberty :  the 
Augsburg  Confession,  the  basis  of  the  creeds  of 
Christendom  and  of  civilization. 

Second.  Because  she  is  largely  the  Church  of  the 
Fatherland  and  the  countries  from  which  so  many 
of  the  immigrants  come.  She  is  joined  to  them  by 
the  ties  of  nativity  and  of  historic  faith. 

Third.  Because  no  other  church  can  carry  on  the 
work  in  more  than  two  or  three  languages,  whilst 
the  Lutheran  Church  is  one  of  many  tongues,  doing 
Home  Missionary  work  in  this  State  in  about  nine 
languages  and  in  this  country  in  some  nineteen  lan- 
guages. 

And  anally,  because  of  her  purity  of  faith  and  her 
noble  confession,  her  Biblical  foundation  and  her 
beauty  and  flexibility  of  worship,  she  is  best  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  a  diversified  population. 


94  HOME   MISSIONS. 

Some  of  the  most  able  theologians  of  other 
churches  have  openly  said,  that  if  there  is  ever  to 
be  a  union  of  the  branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
it  will  have  to  be  upon  the  basis  of  the  great  Lu- 
theran Confessions.  They  are  the  most  clearly  Bib- 
lical and  free  from  human  dogma  or  method.  These 
reasons,  as  well  as  many  others,  clearly  point  to  the 
Lutheran  Church  as  the  great  agent  in  this  country 
for  Home  Missionary  labor. 

Ex-President  Cleveland,  in  an  address  on  Home 
Missions  at  New  York  City,  1896,  said :  "I  desire 
to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  privilege  of  par- 
ticipating in  this  conference  and  of  the  opportunity 
thus  afforded  me  of  testifying  to  the  value  and  use- 
fulness of  the  work  undertaken  by  Home  Missions. 
As  your  fellow-citizen,  interested,  I  hope,  in  all 
things  that  deepen  the  religious  sentiment  of  our 
people  and  enlarge  Christian  influence,  I  fully  realize 
the  transcendent  importance  of  this  agency  in  its 
operation  upon  the  hearts  of  men  for  the  salvation 
of  their  souls.  The  long  roster  of  those  who  have 
been  led  into  the  way  of  righteousness,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  our  Home  Missions,  are  rich  tro- 
phies of  successful  endeavor.  But  it  is  not  only  as 
your  fellow-citizen,  but  as  the  chief  executive  officer 
of  your  government,  that  I  desire  to  speak,  for  I  am 
entirely  certain  that  I  serve  well  our  entire  people, 
whose  servant  I  am,  when  I  here  testify  to  the  bene- 
fit our  country  has  received  through   Home  Mis- 


HOME  MISSIONS  AND  CHRISTIAN  CIVIUZATION.       95 

sionary  effort,  and  when  I  join  you  in  an  attempt 
to  extend  and  strengthen  that  effort. 

"No  one  charged  with  the  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities which  necessarily  weigh  upon  your  chief 
executive  can  fail  to  appreciate  the  importance  of 
religious  teaching  and  Christian  endeavor  in  the 
newly-settled  portions  of  our  vast  domain.  These 
are  serious  considerations  in  a  country  where  the 
people,  good  or  bad,  are  its  rulers.  These  churches 
and  this  religious  teaching  were  never  more  needed 
than  now  on  our  distant  frontiers,  where  the  process 
of  forming  new  States  is  going  on  so  rapidly,  and 
where  newcomers  who  are  to  be  the  citizens  of  the 
new  States  are  so  rapidly  gathered  together.  For 
these  instrumentalities  at  the  outposts  of  our  popula- 
tion, so  vitally  important  in  the  view  of  Christian 
men,  as  well  as  patriotic  citizens,  we  must  depend  to 
a  very  great  extent  on  Home  Missionary  exertion. 
How  can  we  excuse  ourselves  if  we  permit  this  exer- 
tion to  languish  for  the  lack  of  proper  support?" 

Admiral  Schley,  the  hero  of  Santiago,  in  1905, 
under  the  shadows  of  Independence  Hall,  said :  "I 
am  among  those  who  believe  that  there  must  have 
been  a  Providence  in  all  that  these  good  men  did 
here  in  working  out  so  patiently,  so  laboriously,  so 
lastingly  well  the  ideals  which  make  these  walls  so 
sacred  to  us  now.  I  believe,  moreover,  that  the  ear- 
nest prayers  uttered  within  this  sanctuary  of  liberty 
by  these  patriots  were  answered  by  the  God  of  Bat- 


96  HOME   MISSIONS. 

ties  in  the  victories  won  on  land  and  sea  by  the 
forces  then  organized  and  set  in  motion  here.  If 
this  be  true,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  it,  then 
the  republic  they  builded  may  be  reckoned  as  like 
unto  that  house  which  the  wise  man  builded  upon  a 
rock." 

Ex-President  Roosevelt,  at  the  rededication  of  the 
Memorial  Church,  Washington,  said:  "From  the 
standpoint  from  which  I  am  continually  obliged  to 
look  at  matters,  there  is  a  peculiar  function  to  be 
played  by  the  great  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  The  Lutheran  Church  came  to 
the  territory  which  is  now  the  United  States  shortly 
after  the  first  permanent  settlements  were  made 
within  our  limits,  for  when  the  earliest  settlers  came 
to  dwell  around  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware,  they 
brought  the  Lutheran  worship  with  them,  and  so 
with  the  earliest  German  settlers  who  came  to  Penn- 
sylvania and  afterward  to  New  York  and  the  moun- 
tainous region  in  the  western  part  of  Virginia  and 
the  States  south  of  it.  From  that  day  to  this  the 
history  of  the  growth  in  population  of  this  nation 
has  consisted  largely,  in  some  respects  mainly,  of  the 
arrival  of  successive  waves  of  newcomers  to  our 
shores ;  and  the  prime  duty  of  those  already  in  the 
land  is  to  see  that  their  own  progress  and  develop- 
ment are  shared  by  the  newcomers.  It  is  a  serious 
and  dangerous  thing  for  any  man  to  tear  loose  from 
the  soil,  from  the  region  in  which  he  and  his  fore- 


HOME  MISSIONS  AND  CHRISTIAN  CIVIUZATION.       97 

bears  have  taken  root,  and  to  be  transplanted  into  a 
new  land.  He  should  receive  all  possible  aid  in  that 
new  land,  and  the  aid  can  be  tendered  him  most 
effectively  by  those  who  can  appeal  to  him  on  the 
ground  of  spiritual  kinship.  Therefore,  the  Lu- 
theran Church  can  do  most  in  helping  upward  and 
onward  so  many  of  the  newcomers  to  our  shores ; 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  it  should  be,  I  am  tempted 
to  say,  well  nigh  the  prime  duty  of  this  Church  to 
see  that  the  immigrant,  especially  the  immigrant  of 
Lutheran  faith  from  the  Old  World,  may  not  be  suf- 
fered to  drift  off  with  no  friendly  hand  extended  to 
him." 

President  Taft,  to  the  ministers  of  Augusta, 
Georgia  (1909):  "Leaving  out  the  sectional  dis- 
tinctions, the  indispensable  presence  of  church  in- 
fluence in  the  improvement  in  our  civilization,  no 
one  can  be  blind  to  what  has  shared  in  the  slightest 
the  responsibility  for  government  and  the  responsi- 
bility for  improvement  in  a  people  as  I  have  been. 
...  It  comes  over  me  every  once  in  a  while,  when 
I  am  charged  with  accomplishing  something  among 
a  people,  how  absolutely  essential  it  is  that  we  should 
have  the  influence  of  the  Church  behind  everything 
that  we  do." 

Hon.  David  J.  Brewer,  Associate  Justice  of  the 

Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  his  lectures 

on  "The  United  States  a  Christian  Nation"  (1905) 

to  the  students  of  Haverford  College :    "We  classify 

7 


98  HOME   MISSIONS. 

nations  in  various  ways,  as,  for  instance,  by  their 
form  of  government.  One  is  a  kingdom,  another 
an  empire,  and  still  another  a  republic.  Also  by 
race.  Great  Britain  is  an  Anglo-Saxon  nation, 
France  a  Gallic,  Germany  a  Teutonic,  Russia  a 
Slav.  And  still  again  by  religion.  One  is  a  Moham- 
medan nation,  others  are  heathen,  and  still  others 
are  Christian  nations.  This  republic  is  classified 
among  the  Christian  nations  of  the  world.  It  was 
so  formally  declared  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  case  of  Holy  Trinity  Church 
vs.  United  States,  143  U.  S.,  471,  that  court,  after 
mentioning  various  circumstances,  added:  "These 
and  many  other  matters  which  might  be  noticed 
add  a  volume  of  unofficial  declarations  to  the  mass 
of  organic  utterances  that  this  is  a  Christian  nation. 
Christianity  has  entered  into  and  become  part  of 
the  life  of  this  republic ;  it  came  with  its  beginnings 
and  prompted  them;  has  been  identified  with  its 
toils  and  trials,  shared  in  its  victories,  cheered  in 
the  hour  of  darkness  and  gloom,  and  stands  to-day 
prophetic  of  untold  blessings  in  the  future. 

"Christianity  was  a  principal  cause  of  the  settle- 
ments on  these  western  shores.  It  has  been  iden- 
tified with  the  growth  and  development  of  those 
settlements  into  the  United  States  of  America,  has 
so  largely  shaped  and  molded  it  that  to-day,  of  all 
the  nations  in  the  world,  it  is  the  most  justly  called  a 
Christian  nation.     Indeed,  strike  from  the  history 


HOME  MISSIONS  AND  CHRISTIAN  CIVILIZATION.       99 

of  this  country  all  that  the  Christian  Church  has 
done  in  the  interest  and  to  further  the  cause  of  peace, 
and  there  is  not  as  much  life  left  as  was  found  in  the 
barren  fig  tree. 

"If  in  the  past  it  has  done  so  much  and  so  well 
for  the  country,  is  there  any  reason  to  doubt  that 
strengthened  and  extended  it  will  continue  the  same 
healthful  and  helpful  influence?  It  has  often  been 
said  that  Christian  nations  are  the  civilized  nations, 
and  as  often  that  the  most  thoroughly  Christian  are 
the  most  highly  civilized.  Is  this  a  mere  coinci- 
dence? Study  well  the  history  of  Christianity  in 
its  relation  to  the  nation,  and  it  will  be  found  that 
it  is  something  more  than  a  mere  coincidence,  that 
there  is  between  the  two  the  relation  of  cause  and 
effect,  and  that  the  more  thoroughly  the  principles 
of  Christianity  reach  into  and  influence  the  life  of  a 
nation,  the  more  certainly  will  that  nation  advance 
in  civilization. 

"This  republic  has  joined  in  the  movement  of  the 
age,  and  we  rejoice  to  speak  of  her  and  hear  her 
spoken  of  as  a  world-power.  In  no  other  way  can 
this  republic  become  a  world-power  in  the  noblest 
sense  of  the  word  than  by  putting  into  her  life  and 
the  lives  of  her  citizens  the  spirit  and  principles  of 
the  great  Founder  of  Christianity." 

Our  great  cities,  with  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
population,  naturally  become  centers  of  great  power 
and  molding  influence.     In  politics,  in  business,  in 


lOO  HOME   MISSIONS. 

national  affairs  and  questions  of  religion  they  con- 
stitute great  factors.  They  become  the  great  an- 
chorage of  numbers  of  foreigners,  foreign  organiza- 
tions and  activity.  Hence  our  larger  cities  must 
receive  a  large  measure  of  Home  Missionary  invest- 
ment. The  many  attractions  and  temptations  and 
opportunities  for  speculation  and  grasping  power, 
as  vi^ell  as  deep  sources  of  moral  evil,  which  large 
cities  present,  constitute  one  of  the  greatest  problems 
of  the  Church.  Here  great  wealth  accumulates,  the 
rush  of  business,  the  throng  of  pleasure,  the  spirit 
of  worldliness,  and  great  social  functions  tend  to 
crowd  out  the  fundamental  principles  of  higher  life 
and  the  truer  civilization.  Thousands  grow  up  in 
the  schools  of  crime,  without  knowing  God,  con- 
science and  righteousness,  or  coming  in  touch  with 
real  Christian  influence.  Thus  are  formed  deep 
channels  of  evil,  which  annually  send  forth  into  the 
nation's  life  most  dangerous  influences  and  charac- 
ter. 

The  Church  and  the  nation  dare  not  allow  these 
elements  to  develop  unchecked  or  un-Christianized. 
The  hope  and  the  very  life  of  the  nation  and  our 
free  institutions  demand  the  thought  and  labor  of 
the  Church.  If  the  Church  and  Christian  civiliza- 
tion are  to  live  in  the  future  and  exercise  potent  or 
saving  influence,  they  must  center  here. 

Home  Mission  work,  then,  must  not  only  spread 
abroad  over  all  the  land,  but  it  must  also  crystallize 


HOME  MISSIONS  AND  CHRISTIAN  CIVILIZATION.    lOI 

in  our  great  cities  and  illumine  with  the  truth  of  God 
the  homes  and  lives  of  the  thousands  of  our  growing 
cities. 

The  Christian  has  a  mighty  faith  back  of  him, 
a  glorious  history  of  conquest.  The  most  noble 
characters  of  history  have  been  Christians.  Chris- 
tian principles  and  morals  have  been  the  greatest 
influences  of  civilization.  For  more  than  three  thou- 
sand years,  through  all  the  founding  of  nations  and 
the  might  of  this  world,  these  great  fundamental 
principles  for  which  we  now  stand  and  plead,  were 
upheld  and  fostered  and  carried  on  from  conquest 
to  final  victory  over  false  religions,  human  philoso- 
phies and  so-called  science  and  destructive  criticism 
(higher),  until  the  clouds  of  superstition,  which 
for  centuries  have  veiled  the  religious  thought  of 
the  world,  have  been  broken,  and  the  chains  of 
idolatry  cast  aside.  The  truth  of  God  has  lived! 
Christian  civilization  has  encircled  the  globe.  The 
golden  images  of  antiquity  have  been  thrown  down 
and  covered  with  the  desert  sands  of  ages,  heathen 
gods  broken,  kingdoms  and  empires  destroyed,  and 
mighty  nations  of  civilization  and  of  liberty  have 
been  built  up  by  a  new  civilization  of  a  God-fearing 
and  conscientious  people.  This  is  the  story  and 
truth  of  history.  In  the  blood  of  martyrs  and  Chris- 
tian soldiers  this  history  has  been  written,  and  the 
strong  arm  of  Christian  faith  has  wrought  wonders. 
In  nineteen  hundred  years  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ 


I02  HOME    MISSIONS. 

in  history,  more  has  been  accomplished  than  by  all 
the  mighty  rulers,  nations  and  civilizations  of  the 
four  thousand  years  of  the  old  world.  History 
shows  that  the  missionary  spirit  and  enterprise  of 
the  last  century  have  done  more  for  the  civilization 
of  the  world  than  in  all  past  history.  Great  nations 
with  liberty  and  great  principles  and  splendid  moral 
codes  have  been  established.  The  work  is  more  than 
half  complete.  We  now  stand  with  all  this  founda- 
tion of  truth  under  us,  and  the  banner  of  Christ  over 
us,  and  we  must  maintain  this  splendid  trust  and 
heritage  which  our  fathers  and  mothers  have  be- 
queathed to  us,  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  most  sacred 
and  heroic  blood.  We  must  not  let  this  vantage- 
ground  be  taken  from  us.  Skepticism,  infidelity  and 
evil  are  ever  reforming  their  ranks  under  new  names 
and  influences,  if  possible,  to  deceive  the  very  elect. 
We  must  remember  that  our  Christian  Sabbath, 
worship,  Bible  and  Christ-gospel,  truth  and  right- 
eousness are  the  institutions  and  forces  which  alone, 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  have  made  us  what  we  are. 
On  these  principles  our  ancestors  built  this  mighty 
nation  and  the '  modern  patriarchs  the  present 
church,  and  on  these  same  principles  and  divine 
institutions  can  we  only  perpetuate  these  great  heri- 
tages. There  is  a  dangerous  tendency  in  this  twen- 
tieth century  to  get  away  from  these  fundamental 
principles  and  this  orthodox  historic  faith,  to  sepa- 
rate science  from  religion,  to  turn  nature  against 


HOME  MISSIONS  AND  CHRISTIAN  CIVILIZATION.    103 

God  and  revelation.  These  have  been  associated 
together  in  all  truth  and  knowledge  in  history  from 
the  creation.  There  is  a  tendency  to  disbelieve  in  a 
personal  God  and  a  divine  Christ.  History  shows 
that  these  teachings  which  are  as  old  as  sin  have 
been  the  undermining  elements  which  have  de- 
stroyed all  morals  and  true  standards  of  citizenship 
in  the  universal  history  of  the  world. 

A  personal  God,  a  divine  Christ  and  Saviour,  an 
inspired  revelation,  the  Sabbath  as  a  divine  institu- 
tion, and  the  Ten  Commandments  as  the  perfect  rule 
of  life  are  the  issues  so  vital  to  true  civilization, 
that  we  must  stand  by  them,  and  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  eternally. 

Dr.  Francis  L.  Patton,  President  of  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary,  said  in  a  lecture  at  Buffalo, 
lately  (April,  1909),  "The  world  to-day  is  facing 
two  problems :  whether  there  is  a  personal  God,  and 
whether  He  has  spoken  in  the  incarnation  of  Jesus 
Christ."  With  these  he  emphasized  the  doctrine  of 
the  atonement. 

Higher,  or  destructive,  criticism  is,  however,  in 
our  judgment,  not  presenting  new  lines  of  thought, 
but  reasserting  and  restating  the  thought  or  philos- 
ophy which  has  characterized  the  false  teaching  of 
the  ages  of  history  and  philosophy.  It  is  not,  in 
our  opinion,  so  much  a  matter  of  belief  as  it  is  the 
evidence  of  a  world-loving  spirit,  endeavoring  to 
avoid  the  solemn  teachings  of  eternal  truth  for  a 


I04  HOME    MISSIONS. 

sin-loving  heart  to  hide  behind  the  shadows  of 
speculative  theories. 

But  these  tendencies,  nevertheless,  emphasize  the 
importance  of  Home  Missionary  effort  in  placing  in 
the  forefront  the  fundamental  truths  of  an  orthodox, 
historic  faith.  This  is  the  only  remedy.  This  alone 
will  save  the  future  from  the  dreadful  destiny  of 
history.  The  necessity  of  morals  and  religion  as 
related  to  government  and  citizenship  the  consensus 
of  the  whole  world  of  history  attests. 

The  Lutheran  Church  from  its  inception  is  most 
solidly  established  on  this  historic  and  Biblical  faith, 
and  in  all  its  theological  seminaries  does  not  have  a 
discordant  spirit.  She,  therefore,  for  this  with  nu- 
merous other  reasons,  becomes  that  church  destined 
to  lead  the  noble  column  in  the  front  rank  of  modern 
religious  activity.  Providence  clearly  has  directed 
her  destiny  for  this  wonderful  field  and  work. 

Fellow-Lutherans,  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
Augsburg  Confession,  the  great  Magna  Charta  of 
Christian  liberty  and  Christian  faith;  members  of 
the  Mother  Church  of  the  Reformation,  who  bear 
the  name  of  the  immortal  Martin  Luther  and  are 
possessed  of  his  noble  self-sacrificing  spirit,  let  us 
accept  this  responsibility,  discharge  this  duty,  to  the 
glory  of  God,  the  salvation  of  men,  and  the  upbuild- 
ing of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  as  well  as  the  safety 
of  our  great  nation  and  the  free  institutions  be- 
queathed to  us  by  the  fathers. 


VIII 

ENTHUSIASM  FOR  HOME  MISSIONS 


ENTHUSIASM  FOR  HOME  MISSIONS. 

HERMAN  G.  DATTAN_,  D.D. 

Enthusiasm  is  like  a  wild  flower,  that,  redolent 
with  beauty,  covers  the  barren  ground  and  fills  the 
air  with  a  delightful  perfume;  and  again  it  is  like  the 
bright  sunshine  that  brings  out  every  bud  on  the 
trees,  covering  them  with  beautiful  green,  that 
clothes  the  earth  with  a  garment  of  beauty,  delight- 
ing the  eyes  and  hearts  of  men  and  filling  them  with 
praise  and  adoration  for  Him  who  is  enthroned  in 
the  heavens  and  whose  footstool  is  the  earth.  En- 
thusiasm is  like  the  storm  that  carries  everything 
before  it,  leaving  behind  a  path  of  destruction ;  and 
again  it  is  like  a  conflagration,  that,  spreading  un- 
checked, rapidly  destroys  everything  in  its  path  and 
yet  makes  the  places  over  which  it  raged,  fertile  and 
luxuriant  with  growth.  Enthusiasm  takes  out  of 
the  heart  of  man  everything  that  is  antagonistic  or 
opposed  to  the  favorite  cause  and  fills  the  soul  with 
zeal  for  promoting  and  carrying  out  the  purposes 
and  ends  wished  for,  a  zeal  that  knows  no  difiiculties, 
no  barriers,  no  rest,  no  contentment  until  its  purpose 
has  been  accomplished.  Enthusiasm  is  ever  op- 
timistic ;  it  sees  nothing  but  the  desired  goal,  laughs 
at  all  opposition  and  obstructions,  and  with  untiring 

(107) 


I08  HOME    MISSIONS. 

zeal  and  devout  consecration  puts  forth  its  best  ef- 
forts to  reach  this  goal. 

Enthusiasm  for  Home  Missions  is  that  love  for 
this  great  work  of  the  Church  that  burns  like  fire 
in  the  heart  of  man,  urging  him  to  do  his  utmost 
for  its  accomplishment,  that  love  which  fills  his 
heart  with  sunshine,  that  grows  warmer  the  more 
he  sees  its  work  progress;  that  love  for  this  great 
work  of  the  Church  that,  spreading  from  heart  to 
heart,  draws  an  ever-increasing  number  of  people 
by  its  charm  and  power  and  makes  its  blessings 
felt  by  all.  .  .  . 

Have  we  all  this  fervent  love,  this  enthusiasm  for 
Home  Missions,  or  are  we  lukewarm,  even  indiffer- 
ent? It  is  true  that  hundreds  and  thousands,  yea,  it 
must  be  said,  even  members  of  the  Church  show  no 
interest  in  anything  that  extends  beyond  the  horizon 
of  their  own  home  church  and  beyond  the  narrow 
walls  of  their  own  church  life;  they  are  satisfied  in 
responding  to  the  needs  and  wants  of  their  own  con- 
gregation, making  no  sacrifice  for  the  demands  of 
denominational  purposes ;  they  overlook  the  fact 
that  a  Christian,  uninterested  in  missions,  is  not  the 
true  helper  of  the  Church  at  home  as  well  as  at 
large.  It  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  whenever  mis- 
sions in  any  form  are  spoken  of,  many  a  one  with- 
draws into  himself  and  shuts  his  eyes  and  ears 
against  the  most  urgent  needs  of  the  time.  Who- 
ever does  so  fails  to  understand  that  the  very  life 


ENTHUSIASM    FOR    HOME    MISSIONS.  IO9 

of  the  Church  will  be  nndermined  unless  its  menv 
bers  rally  "with  one  accord"  to  its  succor  and  help, 
fails  to  understand  how  strikingly  and  truly  the 
words  of  the  Master,  "He  that  is  not  with  me  is 
against  me ;  and  he  that  gathereth  not  with  me  scat- 
tereth,"  still  touch  the  very  center  of  Christian  life 
and  the  very  existence  of  the  Church.  How  de- 
plorable is  it,  therefore,  that  in  spite  of  the  thou- 
sands who  keep  their  hearts  warm  and  aglow  for 
this  Home  Mission  work,  who  make  sacrifices 
for  its  benefit  and  unhesitatingly  place  as  much 
of  their  means  as  they  can  afford  at  the  disposal 
of  its  demands,  so  many  more  have  no  interest 
in  this  important  work  and  show  no  enthusiasm 
for  its  advancement.  We  must  rise  to  a  sense 
of  the  greatness  of  the  general  work  of  the 
Church.  God's  purpose  as  manifested  in  Christ  is 
to  save  the  whole  world.  The  end  of  Christian  ef- 
fort must  then  be  to  evangelize  the  whole  world. 
But  how  can  this  be  effectively  done  if  the  Church 
has  not  come  to  the  understanding  that  the  work 
must  be  accomplished,  first  of  all,  at  home?  As 
Professor  Austin  Phelps,  of  Andover,  Mass.,  once 
said :  "I  confess  that  the  home  work  does  loom 
up  before  me  with  a  painful  and  threatening  mag- 
nitude which  suggests  the  query  whether  it  is  rea- 
sonable to  expect  much  expansion  of  the  Foreign 
service  before  the  home  field  is  more  thoroughly 
mastered.    There  is  a  law  of  give  and  take  in  these 


no  HOME    MISSIONS. 

things  which  is  as  inexorable  in  the  work  of  the 
world's  conversion  as  in  any  other.  We  cannot  con- 
vert foreign  lands  without  a  certain  amount  of 
spiritual  power  at  home.  We  cannot  give  what  we 
have  not  received.  And  the  power  at  home  must 
come  from  a  broader  and  deeper  spiritual  culture; 
and  this  demands  time,  money,  labor  and  prayer. 
'Beginning  at  Jerusalem,'  such  was  our  Lord's  di- 
rection to  the  apostles  at  the  outset  of  the  great 
work,  and  this  is  the  central  law  of  missions  for  all 
time.  We  must  keep  the  home  work  well  in  hand, 
and  uplifted  above  all  chance  of  failure." 

Therefore  there  ought  to  be  no  other  work  of  the 
Church  that  should  speak  so  appealingly  to  the 
hearts  of  its  members  as  Home  Missions.  The  very 
word  ought  to  inspire  each  and  everyone  with  en- 
thusiasm. Home  Missions — is  there  any  follower  of 
Christ  not  fully  convinced  that  the  Church  has  been 
commissioned  by  the  Master  to  fulfill  the  work  He 
began  and  subsequently  entrusted  to  His  disciples? 
Is  there  any  doubt  in  the  hearts  of  any  Christian 
that  as  the  state  has  its  mission  to  perform  for  its 
citizens,  so  the  Church  of  Christ,  so  our  dear  Luth- 
eran Church  has  a  mission  which  must  be  accom- 
plished under  all  circumstances  and  at  all  hazards? 
And  is  there  any  place  in  the  whole  world  where 
more  interest  for  this  accomplishment  should  be 
shown  than  at  home,  in  one's  own  country  ?  Should 
not  the  man  who  has  the  welfare  of  his  country  at 


ENTHUSIASM    FOR    HOME    MISSIONS.  Ill 

heart  do  everything  in  his  power  to  promote  its  in- 
terests? And  should  it  not  be  the  conviction  of 
everyone  who  knows  life  truly  and  thoroughly,  who 
is  aware  of  the  real  conditions  of  mankind,  all  the 
weaknesses  and  all  the  faults,  that  earthly  means 
alone  cannot  lay  a  secure  foundation  for  any  com- 
monwealth? All  honor  to  the  state  and  its  organs, 
all  honor  to  these  human  agencies  of  state  laws  and 
regulations,  yet  they  do  not  strike  at  the  root  out 
of  which  all  the  defects  of  civil  and  social  life  grow. 
All  honor  to  our  schools  and  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, by  whose  efforts  human  knowledge  is  spread 
broadcast  and  science  and  education  are  promoted; 
they  may  enable  a  man  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
his  daily  work  and  may  bring  about  temporal  wel- 
fare, happiness,  wealth,  position,  honor,  and  the 
applause  of  man,  but  they  never  will  make  him  ready 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  his  soul  and  to  satisfy 
the  needs  of  his  inner  life.  Here  it  is  that  the  com- 
munion of  the  Church  has  to  play  its  part,  here  it  is 
that  the  work  of  Home  Missions  has  an  opportunity 
not  equaled  by  any  other. 

And  now,  I  ask  you,  my  friends,  are  we  con- 
cerned in  this  pressing  need  of  our  country  and  in 
its  welfare?  See,  it  lies  before  us  in  all  its  beauty 
and  grandeur.  Is  it  not  a  beautiful  sight?  Come 
with  me  around  in  the  East  with  its  dense  popula- 
tion, busy  with  its  commerce,  with  its  factories,  its 
industries,  its  institutions  of  learning;  is  it  not  be- 


113  HOME   MISSIONS. 

wildering,  this  picture  of  human  intelHgence  and 
skill?  Come  with  me  toward  the  West,  this  almost 
unlimited  space,  and  see  what  the  human  mind  has 
accomplished  there  in  a  comparatively  short  time, 
what  progress  has  been  made,  what  vast  resources 
of  the  soil,  what  unmeasured  treasures  hidden  in  the 
bowels  of  the  earth,  have  come  more  and  more  un- 
der the  power  of  man.  Are  we  gazing  upon  this  in- 
conceivable abundance  of  blessings,  not  ready  to 
say,  "O  Lord,  how  manifold  are  Thy  works;  in 
wisdom  hast  Thou  made  them  all ;  the  earth  is  full 
of  Thy  riches!"  Should  not  a  country  like  this  be 
loved  by  all  of  us  ?  Loved  not  only  with  a  love  that 
takes  pride  in  its  riches,  in  its  possessions,  in  its  un- 
limited possibilities,  but  loved  with  a  love  that 
knows  of  no  more  imperative  duty  than  the  one  to 
do  its  best  and  try  its  utmost  to  make  all  these  gifts 
and  resources  a  real  blessing  to  its  inhabitants ;  not 
by  using  them  simply  for  the  enrichment  of  our 
people,  for  the  enjoyment  of  life,  but  by  making 
the  people  more  and  more  mindful  of  the  higher  ob- 
ligation of  turning  these  earthly  blessings  into  spir- 
itual and  eternal  gain.  Should  not  then  our  love 
for  this  country  prompt  us  to  make  it  a  garden  of 
God,  where  godliness  reigns  supreme,  where  the 
word  of  God  abounds  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the 
beginning  of  wisdom  ?  This,  then,  is  the  great  com- 
mission the  Church  has  to  fulfill ;  this  is  the  task  no 
other  institution  can  accomplish. 


ENTHUSIASM    FOR    HOME    MISSIONS.  II 3 

How  can  this  be  done?  The  answer  should  not 
be  a  difficult  one.  Simply  by  striving  to  turn  the 
minds  of  the  people  from  all  that  is  transient  and 
perishable  to  higher  and  nobler  aims  and  to  the 
search  for  things  of  a  life  to  come.  But  while  the 
answer  is  easy  the  way  of  solving  the  task  it  sets 
before  us  is  difficult,  almost  beyond  our  reach,  the 
task  itself  almost  too  great  to  be  accomplished! 
Think  of  the  millions  of  unchurched  people!  In 
endless  streams,  in  great  multitudes,  our  Lutheran 
brethren,  those  of  our  own  household,  come  from 
the  European  countries  to  our  shores.  We  are  now 
having  in  our  church  a  Pentecostal  time.  Danes 
and  Norwegians,  Swedes  and  Fins,  Slavs,  Germans 
and  French  and  English — they  all  hear  the  wonder- 
ful words  of  God  spoken  in  their  tongues.  God  has 
given  special  opportunities  to  our  Lutheran  Church, 
and  has  so  laid  upon  us  great  responsibilities — 
greater  than  upon  any  of  the  other  denominations 
in  this  country.  It  should  be  a  simple  and  natural 
duty  to  provide  for  the  spiritual  and  churchly  needs 
of  these  people.  If  we  fail  in  this,  the  boast  of  our 
glorious  heritage  is  an  empty  sound.  "The  great 
thing  is,"  as  Dr.  Dunbar  in  his  editorial  notes  in 
Lutheran  Church  Work  says :  "Not  what  has 
been  done,  but  how  we  are  doing  the  things  that 
are  to  be  done!"  Let  us  realize  this  responsibility. 
Thousands  of  avenues  are  open  to  us  if  we  only 
will  enter.  Oh,  that  it  might  come  to  pass  in  our 
8 


114  HOME   MISSIONS. 

time,  as  the  Lord  God  says  through  the  mouth  of 
His  prophet :  "I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all 
flesh ;  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  proph- 
esy, and  your  young  men  shall  see  visions  and  your 
old  men  shall  dream  dreams,  and  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  saved."  Oh,  that  this  might  come  to 
pass !  But  it  cannot  unless  we  are  filled  with  en- 
thusiasm for  the  work  to  be  done,  this  work  of  Home 
Missions!  Because  where  we  expect  a  harvest,  we 
need  first  of  all  to  sow ;  where  we  expect  the  Church 
to  tell  the  people  of  those  great  aims  of  divine  and 
eternal  life,  we  must  first  send  men,  as  Paul  al- 
ready says,  "How  shall  they  believe  in  Him  of 
whom  they  have  not  heard?  and  how  shall  they 
hear  without  a  preacher  ?  and  how  shall  they  preach 
except  they  be  sent?  As  it  is  written,  'How  beauti- 
ful are  the  feet  of  them  that  preach  the  gospel  of 
peace  and  bring  glad  tidings  of  good  things !'  " 

Our  General  Synod  has  a  broad  field  of  work, 
and  every  member  of  all  our  churches  ought  to  have 
as  wide  an  interest  and  as  glowing  an  enthusiasm  as 
the  work  is  wide  and  important.  As  rapidly  as  the 
population  of  the  country  grows,  as  rapidly  as  cities 
and  towns  spring  into  existence,  so  rapidly  should 
our  church  work  in  Home  Missions  grow  and  our 
enthusiasm  keep  pace  with  that  wonderful  growth. 
Says  Rev.  Gruver,  our  missionary  in  Oakland,  Gal. : 
"The  city  seems  to  be  growing  very  rapidly  and 


ENTHUSIASM    FOR    HOME    MISSIONS.  II 5 

has  in  it  many  Lutheran  people.  But  how  to  interest 
them  in  Church  work  is  the  great  unsolved  prob- 
lem"— he  really  strikes  the  keynote  of  the  present 
needs  of  our  Church.  The  great  question  is :  how 
can  we  arouse  that  enthusiasm  in  the  heart  of  each 
member  of  the  Church  that  alone  will  make  them 
fit  for  meeting  the  situation  with  a  determined 
will,  with  unceasing  zeal,  with  combined  efforts,  and 
with  that  ardor  of  faith  that  is  sure  of  overcoming 
all  difficulties  and  certain  of  victory  ?  How  is  it  pos- 
sible that,  confronted  with  such  a  situation  with  its 
crying  appeals  for  help,  year  after  year  a  deficit 
looms  up  in  the  treasury  of  our  Home  Mission 
Board?  That  our  faithful  missionaries  and  their 
dependent  families  have  to  suffer  for  the  delinquency 
of  the  Church  in  meeting  its  obligations  to  them? 
How  is  it  possible  for  a  single  member  of  the  Church 
not  to  recognize  the  fact  that  Home  Missions  is  a 
divine  work,  having  for  its  prompt  prosecution  the 
authority  and  emphatic  sanction  of  Jesus  Himself? 
Well,  in  the  face  of  all  the  woeful  features  of  our 
times,  so  much  more  it  becomes  our  duty  to  kindle 
the  fire  of  enthusiasm  for  this  great  work.  Let 
every  minister's  heart  become  an  altar  on  which  this 
divine  fire  is  burning,  and  the  flame  of  it  will  be- 
come a  shining  light  even  in  our  congregations,  in 
our  communities,  arousing  men  and  women  out  of 
their  indifference.  You  coti  kindle  this  fire  in  every 
heart,  if  you  succeed  in  making  it  realize  that  none 


Il6  HOME   MISSIONS. 

can  claim  the  name  of  a  follower  of  Christ  unless 
this  work  is  regarded  by  him  as  a  duty  that  must  be 
performed   unconditionally:    a    duty   laid   upon   us 
by  the  word  and  example  of  Christ,  who  emphasizes 
to  be  sent  to  the  lost  sheep  of  His  own  household  of 
Israel;  a  duty  laid  upon  us  by  our  own  sense  of 
gratitude  and  appreciation  of  the  great  benefits  de- 
rived from  our  connection  with  the  Church  which 
we  enjoy  daily  even  though  we  do  not  recognize  it; 
a  duty  laid  upon  us  by  the  love  of  our  country,  the 
welfare  of  which  is  at  stake  and  will  be  accom- 
plished only  in  the  same  degree  as  the  word  and 
spirit  of  Christ  permeates  its  life  and  governs  its 
policy,   its  commerce,   its  business,   its  social  rela- 
tions; a  duty  the  fulfillment  of  which  becomes  so 
much  more  needful  and  imperative  as  we  are  still 
engaged  in  shaping  our  nation  out  of  divers  con- 
glomerates into  one  solid  mass  and  in  laying  the 
foundations  of  its  progress  and  destiny  as  the  stand- 
ard-bearer of  Christian  liberty  and  of  the  inalien- 
able rights  of  every  human  being:  freedom  of  con- 
science and  of  the  privileges  of  the  children  of  God. 
Start  the  work  with  the  young  children  of  the 
Church.    The  hearts  of  the  young  are  susceptible  of 
good  and  noble  impressions.     Consider  the  good 
work  already  being  done  by  our  schools  and  the 
results  accomplished  by  them  in  arousing  patriotic 
enthusiasm  in  the  hearts  of  their  pupils.     Should 
not  the  Church  be  able  to  reach  the  same  standard 


ENTHUSIASM    FOR   HOME    MISSIONS.  II7 

in  kindling  the  fire  of  enthusiasm  for  its  great  tasks 
in  the  hearts  of  its  children?    Every  Home  Mission 
day  which  we  celebrate  in  our  Sunday  schools,  with 
its  beautiful  services  provided  by  the  Board,  with  its 
inspiring   hymns,    with   its   recitations   overflowing 
with  enthusiasm  as  well  as  with  practical  hints  and 
filled  with  love  for  the  Master's  work — ought  to  be 
made  the  spring  of  rivers  of  life,  stirring  the  hearts 
of  our  children,  making  them  burn  with  zeal  and 
determination  to  become  co-workers  in  this  great 
enterprise  of  the  Church.    Set  before  the  young  peo- 
ple of  the  Church,  who  have  not  yet  lost  their  better 
self  in  the  arduous  tasks  and  in  the  absorbing  allure- 
ments of  this  world,  who  are  still  inclined  to  lend 
their  ears  to  the  divine  message  and  their  help  to  the 
fulfilling  of  the  Master's  command  to  set  this  work  of 
Home  Missions  before  them  with  words  that  testify 
of  your  own  earnestness  and  devotion  and  love  for 
the  work — and  surely  they  will  appeal  to  their  hearts 
and  will  inspire  them  with  a  firm  determination  to 
plant  the  Church  in  every  hamlet  and  town,  to  make 
our  Lutheran  Church  a  real  stronghold  and  bulwark 
not  only  in  the  defence  but  also  in  the  promotion  of 
the  real  welfare  of  this  their  country.     And  like  a 
spreading   fire   this   enthusiasm   will   communicate 
itself  to  the  older  people,  making  the  congregations 
vie  with  each  other  in  putting  forth  their  best  efforts 
to  meet  the  commanding  needs  of  the  Church,  of 
the  country,  and  in  the  end  the  whole  Church,  to 


Il8  HOME   MISSIONS. 

which  the  work  is  entrusted,  upon  which  the  solemn 
obHgation  of  caring  for  the  needs  of  her  own  people 
and  of  the  spiritually  destitute  millions  of  our  land 
is  laid,  will  realize  its  duty  more  and  more  and  ex- 
perience the  blessings  of  the  wisdom  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God,  by  whose  assistance  alone  this  su- 
premely important  task  can  be  accomplished. 

Permit  me  to  close  with  the  words  of  our  faithful 
and  most  efficient  General  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Home  Missions,  as  they  are  recorded  in  the 
Lutheran  Church  Work:  "We  believe  that  match- 
less power  of  God's  wisdom  and  strength  for  service 
in  the  glorious  cause  of  propagating  the  gospel, 
extending  the  borders  of  Zion,  and  Christianizing 
our  nation  awaits  the  Church,  if  it  seeks  it  from  Him 
to  whom  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  given, 
in  the  proper  way.  'Our  help  cometh  from  the  Lord, 
which  made  heaven  and  earth.'  " 


IX 

INSPIRATION  FOR  CONQUEST 


INSPIRATION  FOR  CONQUEST. 

S.    p.    LONG^   D.D. 

There  are  three  things  which  we  must  not  forget 
in  this  hour : 

First.  To  bring  this  lost  world  back  to  Christ  is 
the  mightiest  conquest  that  was  ever  undertaken. 

Second.  To  make  this  conquest  requires  unusual 
sacrifice  and  unselfishness.  Hang  up  a  bag  of  gold 
in  California  and  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  a  man 
start  from  Boston  on  his  seventieth  birthday  and 
walk  every  step  to  get  it;  but  for  this  conquest  we 
will  need  men  who  are  willing  to  walk  away  from 
gold  and  obey  God. 

Third.  As  to  the  cry  for  men,  let  me  make  sev- 
eral suggestions : 

1.  The  world  needs  first  of  all  in  this  great 
twentieth  century  a  host  of  Hannahs  who  will  pray 
for  mighty  men  of  God  to  be  born.  It  is  time  that 
the  pulpit  send  forth  no  uncertain  sound  on  this 
question. 

2.  The  Church  should  learn  a  lesson  from  the 
world  in  selecting  men.  The  money  powers  of  the 
world  make  no  mistakes  in  selecting  men  to  do  their 
work.  God  calls  His  servants,  but  if  He  has  called 
all  preachers  He  has  undoubtedly  made  some  poor 

(121) 


122  HOME   MISSIONS. 

selections.  I  believe  the  same  God  who  saw  fit  to 
conquer  this  world  for  Christ  by  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  through  poor  sinners  saved  by  grace  also 
calls  a  Timothy  through  Paul;  and  every  Lutheran 
college  in  this  land  should  have  a  chaplain  who  has 
the  special  ability  of  selecting  the  right  young  men 
for  the  ministry  and  impressing  them  with  the  high 
calling  of  God.  To  select  the  right  young  men  for 
the  ministry,  I  believe,  is  a  gift  that  does  not  belong 
to  the  ministry  or  the  home  in  general.  Let  the 
right  man  of  God  go  from  church  to  church  and 
into  our  homes,  and  the  right  young  men  will  enter 
the  ministry. 

3.  And  there  is  one  point  which  I  have  not 
heard  mentioned  in  this  convention  and  which  I  con- 
sider absolutely  necessary,  if  we  want  inspiration  for 
conquest;  and  that  is,  we  should  not  ask  anyone  to 
do  what  we  would  not  be  willing  to  do  ourselves. 

As  I  look  over  this  program  I  notice  that  the 
speakers  have  nearly  all  come  from  homes  where 
they  are  very  pleasantly  located,  and  we  must  beware 
that  we  do  not  tell  others  to  do  what  we  would  not 
do  ourselves.  I  am  not  boasting,  but  I  believe  that 
I  am  serving  as  good  a  Lutheran  church  as  there  is 
in  the  United  States,  and  our  relation  is  very  pleas- 
ant, and  my  family  love  me  as  much  as  any  family 
can  love  a  husband  and  father;  and  yet  I  feel  that 
my  address  must  be  a  total  failure,  if  I  do  not  say 
here  what  I  wrote  to  Dr.  Weber,  that  if  there  is  a 


INSPIRATION    FOR   CONQUEST.  1 23 

place  in  the  world  where  Christ  is  not  at  all  known 
and  no  one  else  wants  to  go,  if  He  will  open  the  way 
to  me,  I  am  ready  to  go  to  that  field  at  any  cost. 

Now,  let  the  rest  of  you  declare  the  same  and  send 
such  a  resolution  out  from  this  convention  and  there 
would  be  such  an  inspiration  kindled  for  conquest 
as  we  never  saw  before. 

Let  me  now  lead  you  to  the  source  of  this  inspira- 
tion. You  will  find  it  in  the  first  five  verses  of  the 
8th  chapter  of  Revelation.  We  read  there  of  silence 
in  heaven  a  half  hour.  Instead  of  our  loud  applaud- 
ing in  God's  house,  let  us  have  silence.  The  seventh 
seal  is  opened  and  seven  angels  stand  there  with 
seven  trumpets,  and  the  Angel  of  Intercession,  Jesus 
Christ,  takes  the  prayers  of  the  saints  in  His  golden 
censer  and  lifts  them  up  to  the  Father  and  then  fills 
the  censer  with  fire  from  the  altar  and  hurls  it  to 
earth ;  "and  there  were  voices  and  thunderings, 
and  lightnings  and  an  earthquake."  What  does  this 
mean?  What  else  can  it  mean  but  this?  We  can- 
not pray  unless  we  pray  in  Jesus'  name,  and  we 
cannot  pray  in  Jesus'  name  any  prayer  which  He 
could  not  pray  to  the  Father,  and  true  prayers  in 
Jesus'  name  bring  the  fire  of  the  Holy  Spirit  down 
from  heaven  and  kindle  new  prayers  and  inspiration 
in  our  hearts  that  move  this  world  like  voices,  thun- 
derings, lightnings,  and  earthquakes.  Every  great 
movement  in  the  Church  of  God  has  been  preceded 
by  seasons  of  prayer  and  inspiration  from  the  fires 


124  HOME   MISSIONS. 

of  heaven.  Let  us  now  look  to  that  altar  on  high 
while  I  blow  seven  trumpets  and  give  the  seventh 
trumpet  seven  blasts. 

The  First  Trumpet. — This  is  a  lost  world!  Do 
you  believe  this?  Do  you  believe  that  the  natural 
man  is  lost  to  God  and  lost  till  he  is  saved?  When 
your  neighbor  without  any  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  dies 
and  his  body  goes  down  into  the  grave,  do  you 
believe  that  he  is  lost — eternally  lost?  Do  you  be- 
lieve the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  "He  that  believeth 
not  shall  be  damned"  ?  Unless  you  get  the  fire  from 
the  altar  of  God  into  your  hearts  and  believe  this 
truth  you  can  never  have  the  inspiration  for  con- 
quest. There  are  so  many  christless,  ungodly  re- 
ligions in  the  present  day  that  we  must  sound  this 
trumpet  in  the  name  of  God  Almighty  to  waken  up 
this  sleeping  church  and  the  world. 

The  Second  Trumpet. — Jesus  came  to  this  lost 
world !  We  all  know  this,  but  do  we  stop  and  warm 
our  hearts  long  enough  at  the  altar  of  God  to  think 
what  Jesus  left  and  found  when  He  came  here  ?  As 
the  only  heir  of  heaven  do  you  see  Him  leave  His 
throne,  and  the  holy  angels  and  all  His  worlds  and 
glory  and  come  down  here  to  be  born  in  a  stable? 
You  have  heard  this  story  ever  since  you  were  a 
little  child,  but  did  you  ever  hear  it  at  the  altar  of 
God's  fire  and  catch  the  spark  of  inspiration  that 
would  move  you  to  leave  your  home  and  go  any- 
where to  help  save  this  poor,  lost  world?    Dwell  on 


INSPIRATION    FOR   CONQUEST.  1 25 

this  thought  as  you  should  and  there  will  be  no  place 
on  earth  that  you  would  not  go  for  Jesus'  sake. 

The  Third  Trumpet. — Jesus  lived  here  thirty- 
three  years!  A  superintendent  of  public  schools  in 
New  England  went  to  one  of  the  pastors  in  his  city 
and  said,  "Is  Phil  sick?"  The  pastor  said,  "No! 
Has  he  not  been  in  school?"  "Not  for  three  days," 
said  the  superintendent.  That  evening  when  Phil 
came  home  with  his  books  his  father  said,  "Phil, 
where  have  you  been  the  last  three  days?"  "To 
school,"  said  Phil.  "My  son,"  said  the  father,  "you 
have  lived  a  lie  for  three  days  and  the  next  three 
days  you  must  live  in  the  attic."  That  night  the 
parents  could  not  eat  nor  read  nor  sleep,  and  after 
midnight  the  father  took  his  pillow  up  into  the  attic 
and  found  Phil  awake,  and  they  both  fell  asleep 
together  mingling  their  tears.  For  three  days  the 
father  stayed  up  there  with  his  boy  and  carried  his 
meals  and  ate  and  slept  with  him.  To-day  that  boy 
is  preaching  the  gospel  in  China. 

The  world  was  living  a  lie,  and  Jesus  came  here 
and  had  no  pillow  on  which  to  lay  His  head ;  but 
He  stayed  here  till  His  work  was  done.  He  might 
have  gone  home,  like  many  a  missionary,  and  never 
returned,  but  He  stayed.  Is  there  no  inspiration  in 
this  for  us?  If  we  kept  this  in  mind  and  remem- 
bered God's  staying  love,  would  we  desert  our  fields, 
or  refuse  to  stay  in  unpleasant  places  ? 

The  Fourth  Trumpet. — Jesus  redeemed  this  lost 


126  HOME    MISSIONS. 

world !  Of  course,  the  saved  have  all  been  redeemed ; 
but  how  about  the  lost  ?  How  about  Judas  ?  How 
about  the  lost  in  hell  ?  How  about  the  lowest  fallen 
human  beings  on  earth  to-day?  How  about  those 
bloody  murderers  in  Armenia?  Have  they  all  been 
redeemed?  Some  churches  sing,  "I  want  to  be 
redeemed!"  Never  sing  that  song.  You  do  not 
mean  it.  You  certainly  do  not  want  Jesus  to  come 
and  be  crucified  again.  When  He  died  on  Calvary, 
"He  gave  His  life  a  ransom  for  all."  The  fact  is 
that  Christ  died  for  all — died  for  the  lost — the  low- 
est of  the  lost!  Oh,  what  an  inspiration  for  con- 
quest! When  this  passion  gripped  Paul  he  was 
willing  to  be  damned  to  save  Israel;  Livingstone 
plunged  into  Africa ;  Duff  ran  into  the  heat  of  India ; 
Hudson  Taylor  penetrated  the  inner  provinces  of 
China.  Let  this  passion  grip  you  and  you  will  reach 
down  for  the  lowest  of  the  lost. 

The  Fifth  Trumpet. — Much  has  been  said  here 
about  Home  Missions  and  Foreign  Missions  and 
Church  Extension ;  but  let  us  listen  to  the  sounding 
of  the  fifth  trumpet  as  Jesus  says,  "The  field  is  the 
world"  (Matt.  xiii.  38).  The  last  command  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  His  church  was  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  all  the  nations  and  His  time  to  return  was  to  be 
after  this  command  was  fully  obeyed.  I  used  to  read 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  if  they  never  committed 
any  blunders.  What  a  mistake.  When  they  ap- 
pointed five  deacons  to  take  care  of  the  widows  and 


INSPIRATION    FOR   CONQUEST.  1 27 

orphans  and  they  would  give  their  whole  attention 
to  the  word  they  thought  division  of  labor  was  God's 
plan,  but  it  was  not,  God's  plan  was  distribution 
of  labor.  See  how  God  upset  their  plans.  Stephen 
was  stoned,  and  with  the  whips  of  persecution 
Philip,  the  deacon,  was  driven  to  Samaria  to  preach, 
and  the  apostles  followed  him  and  took  collections 
for  the  poor.  Division  of  labor  means  to  shirk  re- 
sponsibility, but  distribution  means  particular  work 
and  general  responsibility.  The  apostles  were  com- 
manded to  begin  at  Jerusalem  and  then  through 
Samaria  start  out  to  the  ends  of  the  world ;  but  there 
they  stayed  till  God  Almighty  whipped  them  out 
(Acts  viii.  i).  As  Christ  is  nothing  to  us  at  all  till 
He  is  our  all  in  all,  so  we  are  no  missionaries  at  all 
till  we  recognize  the  world  as  the  field. 

The  Sixth  Tnmipct. — Jesus  wakened  up  the  world 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  Small  and  great  events  in 
history  are  all  in  God's  hands.  The  world  is  not 
quite  certain  whether  the  movable  type  in  printing 
was  discovered  by  Gutenberg,  Faust,  Schoeffer,  or 
Coster;  but  this  we  know,  that  the  Bible  was  the 
first  book  that  was  ever  printed,  and  God  saw  to  it 
that  we  got  the  printing  press.  The  Bible  needed  a 
press  to  print  it  and  a  Luther  to  translate  and  teach 
and  preach  it,  and  a  home  for  the  persecuted  Chris- 
tians to  come  and  play  the  last  great  drama  of  the 
world.  And  no  wonder  Christopher  Columbus  had 
no  rest  till  he  planted  the  cross  on  American  soil.    A 


128  HOME   MISSIONS. 

man  must  be  blind  if  he  does  not  see  the  hand  of  God 
in  all  history,  and  especially  in  the  age  of  the 
Reformation. 

The  Seventh  Trumpet. — This  world  has  had  four 
great  birth  hours : 

1.  The  advent  of  man. 

2.  The  advent  of  the  Son  of  man. 

3.  The  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

4.  The  age  of  world-wide  missions. 

We  are  in  this  last  age  now,  and  this  is  the  last 
trumpet  I  wish  to  sound  to-day.  Let  me  give  this 
seventh  trumpet  seven  short  blasts : 

1,  Look  at  the  lost  heroes !  James  Gordon  Ben- 
nett said  to  Henry  M.  Stanley,  "Find  Livingstone !" 
It  cost  over  $50,000.00  and  two  years  of  searching 
to  find  that  man  in  darkest  Africa.  A  book  was 
printed  :  "Livingstone  Lost  and  Found."  The  fact 
is  that  Livingstone  was  never  lost.  The  Church  was 
too  slow  and  sleepy  for  him.  Another  book  should 
be  written :  "How  Livingstone  Lost  the  Church." 
Let  us  get  inspiration  from  heroes  like  Livingstone 
to  conquer  this  world  for  Jesus. 

2.  See  God  locking  the  doors  of  the  world  open. 
We  usually  lock  a  door  shut,  but  you  can  swing  a 
gate  open  and  throw  a  chain  around  the  end  of  a 
tree  and  with  a  padlock  lock  it  open  that  no  one  can 
shut  it.  That  is  what  God  is  doing  to-day  with  the 
nations :  He  is  breaking  down  all  the  walls  of  par- 
tition  and   throwing   the  gates   open   and   locking 


INSPIRATION   FOR  CONQUEST.  1 29 

them  open  so  no  one  can  shut  them,  and  the  cry  of 
Providence  is,  "enter  and  take  possession,  my  bride, 
the  Church  of  the  Hving  God !" 

3.  See  what  God  has  done  with  the  lowest! 
Darwin  said  one  time  that  the  Patagonians  and  the 
aborigines  of  Austraha  and  the  Malagasy  of  Mada- 
gascar and  the  Fuegians  were  half  monkeys.  Then 
God  passed  by  the  half-civilized  nations  and  per- 
formed a  great  miracle — He  saved  these  "half  mon- 
keys" and  made  honest  Christian  men  and  women 
of  them,  and  compelled  Darwin  to  write  to  Admiral 
Sulivan  before  he  died,  "I  could  not  have  believed 
that  all  the  missionaries  of  the  world  could  have 
made  the  Fuegians  honest."  Should  this  act  of  God 
not  encourage  us  to  enter  the  field  of  conquest? 

4.  God  has  reduced  the  size  of  the  field.  The 
world  by  swift  communication  is  growing  smaller 
every  day.  Yonder  engine  could  travel  around  this 
globe  on  one  continuous  track  in  three  weeks.  It 
took  nearly  fifteen  hundred  years  to  bring  the  news 
of  Christ's  crucifixion  to  America.  If  Christ  were 
crucified  now  in  Jerusalem  at  9  A.  M.,  by  that  same 
hour  in  this  country  it  could  be  read  in  the  daily 
paper.  God  said  two  thousand  years  ago,  "The 
field  is  the  world."  To-day  He  says,  "The  world  is 
a  little  field." 

5.  There  are  more  lost  souls  in  the  world  to-day 
than  ever  before.  With  all  our  millions  of  chris- 
tians it  is  hard  to  believe  that  there  are  more  people 

9 


130  HOME   MISSIONS. 

on  earth  now  who  never  heard  of  Christ  than  there 
were  the  morning-  He  was  crucified.  This  problem 
is  easily  solved  when  we  remember  that  the  world  is 
multiplying  much  faster  than  the  Church  is  gaining. 
When  the  weeds  grow  it  is  good  corn  weather  and 
farmers  must  work;  and  when  heathen  are  multi- 
plying the  Church  of  God  must  work  and  grow 
faster. 

6.  The  Lutherans  have  the  truth  the  world  needs. 
To  know  and  believe  the  Lutheran  doctrine  satisfies 
the  human  soul.  What  does  it  mean  that  God  should 
have  78,000,000  Lutherans  in  the  world  now  able 
to  preach  the  gospel  in  nearly  every  language? 
Only  one  answer :    Responsibility  ! 

7.  The  seventh  and  last  blast:  The  work  is 
great  and  our  time  short.  Whatever  we  do  must  be 
done  soon !  Our  work  is  nearly  done !  The  harvest 
is  ripe  and  the  laborers  are  few.  In  the  ruins  of 
Pompeii  a  little  crippled  child  was  found  with  noth- 
ing around  it  but  the  arm  of  a  woman.  Can  you 
read  the  story  ?  Here  it  is :  The  crippled  child 
could  not  escape  the  fires  of  Vesuvius  and  a  woman 
picked  up  the  little  cripple  under  her  arm,  but  both 
were  overtaken  and  the  fires  consumed  all  of  the 
woman  but  the  saving  arm  around  the  child.  The 
saving  arm  was  saved.  Christ  has  saved  us.  Oh, 
let  us  be  found  saving  others !  God  give  us  inspira- 
tion for  conquest.    Amen. 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
I 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  WORK  OF 
THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

L.    B.     WOLF^    D.D. 

The  beginning  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  enter- 
prise dates  back  to  the  General  Synod  which  con- 
vened in  Baltimore  in  1833.  A  resolution  was 
adopted  referring  the  subject  to  the  District  Synods, 
appointing  a  standing  missionary  committee  to  cir- 
culate missionary  intelligence  and  urging  the  hold- 
ing of  a  missionary  convention  at  the  next  meeting 
of  the  Synod,  at  which  a  sermon  on  the  Foreign 
Missionary  enterprise  was  to  be  preached.  In  1835, 
at  York,  Pa.,  the  subject  was  taken  up  more  ear- 
nestly by  the  Committee  appointed,  which  concludes 
an  eloquent  report  with  six  resolutions  urging  the 
holding  of  a  missionary  convention  at  Mechanics- 
burg,  Pa.,  rejoicing  in  the  successful  labors  of  the 
Rev.  Charles  Gutzlaff  in  China  and  recommending 
him  to  the  prayers  of  the  churches,  and  finally  deter- 

(^33) 


134  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

mining  upon  the  establishment  of  a  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  by  the  EvangeHcal  Lutheran  Church 
in  the  United  States. 

At  the  Mechanicsburg  meeting,  a  Central  Mis- 
sionary Society  was  formed,  whose  object  was  "To 
send  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  to  the  destitute 
portions  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United 
States  by  means  of  missionaries;  to  assist  for  a 
season  such  congregations  of  said  churches  as  are 
unable  to  support  the  gospel;  and  ultimately  to 
co-operate  in  sending  it  to  the  heathen  world." 

What  stirred  up  the  Church  at  home  were  the 
strong  appeals  which  came  from  the  "celebrated 
Gutzlaff,"  of  China,  and  "the  indefatigable  Rhe- 
nius,"  of  India,  whose  efforts  called  the  Church  to 
immediate  action  in  the  foreign  field.  The  feeling 
everywhere  prevailed  that  God  was  calling  us  to 
Foreign  Missions. 

The  time  for  organization  had  come,  and  at 
Hagerstown  (1837)  the  General  Synod  outlined  a 
policy  for  the  work,  recommending  the  holding  of 
a  convention  to  organize  a  "Foreign  Missionary 
Society."  At  this  convention.  May  30th,  in  Hagers- 
town, a  society  was  organized  and  called  "The  Ger- 
man Foreign  Missionary  Society."  This  title  was 
adopted  in  the  hope  of  drawing  all  Germans,  Re- 
formed and  Lutheran,  into  co-operation.  Mean- 
while the  German  Reformed  Churches  were  asked 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  135 

to  join  the  movement,  but  without  success.  The 
standing  committee,  through  its  Secretary,  reported 
to  the  General  Synod  at  Chambersburg,  1839,  "That 
the  Reformed  Church  decHned  the  proposed  union." 
This  action  led  to  the  title  of  the  society  being 
changed  to  "The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United  States." 
In  the  spring  of  1840,  after  considerable  negotia- 
tion, the  Rev.  C.  F.  Heyer  was  appointed  by  the 
Executive  Committee  of  this  Society  to  go  to  India 
as  its  first  missionary.  It  was  resolved  by  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  to  transact  its  business  through  the 
American  Board,  though  it  was  to  maintain  as  an 
institution  its  distinct  Lutheran  character.  A  basis 
of  union  was  proposed.  Strong  opposition  to  the 
union  soon  developed.  Fearing  its  adoption  by  the 
bodies  and  complications  arising  therefrom  in  the 
work,  missionary  Heyer  resigned.  It  was  while 
these  overtures  looking  toward  union  were  being 
made,  that  the  old  mother  Synod,  who  had  main- 
tained a  separate  missionary  organization,  deter- 
mined to  send  out  Mr.  Heyer,  who  sailed  from  Bos- 
ton, October  14th,  1841,  the  first  missionary  sent 
out  to  the  heathen  world  by  the  American  Lutheran 
Church. 

The  General  Synod's  efforts  at  union  having 
failed,  through  no  fault  of  theirs,  for  a  time  there 
was  a  distinct  backset  to  the  work.     However,  at 


136  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

the  meeting  of  the  General  Synod  in  Baltimore, 
1843,  3-  y^^^  after  Father  Heyer  landed  in  India, 
the  Executive  Committee  was  empowered  to  "ap- 
point and  send  out  a  missionary  as  soon  as  possible, 
and,  if  expedient,  to  co-operate  with  the  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania,"  and  with 
their  missionary  in  India.  In  May,  1843,  ^he  Rev. 
Walter  Gunn  was  appointed,  and  in  June,  1844,  he 
joined  Mr.  Heyer  in  India.  In  1846  Heyer  was 
forced  by  ill  health  to  return  to  America,  and  cir- 
cumstances changing  at  home  on  his  return,  he  was 
sent  out  by  the  General  Synod  and  supported  by  the 
Pennsylvania  Synod. 

In  1850,  the  Executive  Committee  ass.umed  the 
support  and  work  of  the  North  German  Missionary 
Society,  which  was  in  financial  straits,  due  to  dis- 
turbed political  conditions  in  Germany.  This  added 
the  Rajahmundry  to  the  Guntur  Field,  and  the  Revs. 
Messrs.  Valett  and  Heise  became  missionaries  of  the 
General  Synod.  The  field  then  embraced  the  rich 
deltas  of  the  Godavery  and  Krishna  Rivers. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  General  Synod  in  1855,  the 
work  of  the  Missionary  Society  for  eighteen  years 
was  reviewed,  and  the  whole  amount  of  the  receipts 
was  put  down  at  $38,220.00.  At  the  anniversary 
$500.00  was  contributed  to  the  cause  on  a  strong  ap- 
peal being  made.  The  Executive  Committee  in  its 
Tenth  Biennial  Report  presented  the  question  of  the 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  1 37 

opening  of  a  mission  in  China,  to  which  it  had  been 
urged  by  the  Synods  of  New  York  and  Hartwick. 
The  General  Synod  recommended  "that  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  entertain  the  project  favorably." 
But  the  Civil  War  intervening  made  it  financially 
impossible. 

The  spirit  of  missions  in  the  Church  had  mean- 
while been  greatly  exercised  concerning  Africa's 
evangelization.  In  1855,  at  the  Dayton  Convention 
of  the  General  Synod,  the  Miami  Synod  memorial- 
ized the  General  Synod  "to  proceed  to  establish  a 
Mission  in  Africa."  The  Synod  referred  this  to  a 
committee  which  reported  at  a  subsequent  session, 
recommending  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of 
five  to  draw  up  a  plan  to  be  reported  at  the  next  con- 
vention. The  committee  appointed  consisted  of 
Revs.  Dr.  Sprecher,  Harkey,  Harrison  and  Messrs. 
J.  D.  Martin  and  F.  Gebhart.  In  1857,  this  com- 
mittee appointed  at  Reading  reported  that  the  Rev. 
Morris  Officer  had  been  at  work  for  two  years  trying 
to  stir  up  interest  in  the  project,  and  that  the  com- 
mittee recommended  Liberia,  Africa,  as  the  place  for 
the  school  or  institute  to  be  established,  and  that  the 
work  was  to  be  under  the  control  of  the  missionary, 
and  "to  embrace,  together  with  a  Christian  training 
for  the  children,  the  common  branches  of  an  English 
education,  and  also  the  common  arts  of  civilization." 
At  the  Pittsburgh  Convention,  1859,  the  committee 


138  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

was  continued,  but  cautioned  to  take  no  decided 
action  "as  to  the  location  and  the  commencement  of 
the  mission,  without  the  co-operation  of  our  For- 
eign Missionary  Society." 

The  committee  thereupon  met  the  Executive 
Committee,  and  together  it  was  determined  to  lo- 
cate the  mission  as  recommended  at  the  Reading 
Convention,  in  Liberia.  Significant  is  the  state- 
ment that  Brother  Officer  was  "to  continue  in 
Africa  no  longer  than  is  necessary  to  the  healthy 
superintendence  of  said  Mission."  Accompanied 
by  Brother  Heigard  he  left  Baltimore,  February 
23d,  i860.  Practically,  the  work  started  under 
the  Executive  Committee  at  this  time,  but  the 
Africa  committee  was  not  formally  discharged 
until  1862,  at  Lancaster,  Pa. 

The  development  of  the  Executive  Committee's 
work  was  greatly  retarded  during  the  years  of  the 
great  Civil  War,  and  the  disruption  of  the  Church, 
following  the  York  Convention  in  1864.  The  days 
in  church  and  state  were  evil,  and  Foreign  Missions 
suffered  most  seriously.  The  spirit  of  conquest  ex- 
hausted itself  at  home  and  there  were  neither  men 
nor  means  available  to  do  the  work  abroad. 

In  1869,  at  Washington,  D.  C,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Executive  Committee  presented  the  following 
communication :  "Whereas,  provision  has  been 
made  in  the  new  constitution  of  the  General  Synod 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  139 

for  Boards  appointed  by  that  body  to  carry  on  the 
benevolent  operations  of  the  Church ;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  that  the  Synod  be  requested  at  its  pres- 
ent session  to  appoint  a  Board  of  Management  for 
the  Foreign  Missionary  work  to  be  responsible  to 
that  body." 

The  Synod  repHed  to  this  communication:  "Re- 
solved, that  we  accede  to  the  proposal  of  the  For- 
eign ^Missionary  Society  and  take  charge  of  the  For- 
eign Missionary  work  and  interests." 

On  May  17th,  1869,  the  last  anniversary  of  the 
old  Missionary  Society  was  held  in  St.  Paul's 
Church,  Washington,  D.  C,  and  on  the  20th  follow- 
ing, the  Board,  under  the  new  constitution,  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Synods.  Since  then  the  home  end  of 
the  work  has  been  in  the  hands  of  this  Board.  The 
headquarters  of  the  Board  continued  for  some  years 
in  New  York.  In  1875,  the  number  of  members  was 
increased  from  five  to  seven,  and  in  1877  the  mem- 
bers appointed  to  constitute  the  Board,  with  two  ex- 
ceptions, were  residents  of  Baltimore,  and  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Board  were  transferred  to  that  city, 
where  it  has  remained  for  the  last  thirty-two  years. 
It  is  a  body  corporate  since  1882,  according  to  the 
laws  of  the  State  of  Maryland.  In  1879,  the  mem- 
bership was  increased  to  eight,  and  in  1891  to  nine. 

In  1879,  the  Board,  though  repeatedly  urged  to 
it,  and  though  considerable  money  had  been  received 


140  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

to  start  work  in  Japan,  reported  "that  it  would  not 
be  wise  to  undertake  any  additional  work  in  the  new 
field."  The  reasons  assigned  especially  were  the 
need  of  funds  for  the  work  already  commenced. 

The  growth  of  the  spirit  of  benevolence  as  evinced 
in  the  Foreign  Missionary  work  deserves  attention. 
The  amount  contributed  the  first  year  of  the  organi- 
zation, according  to  the  first  biennial  report,  was 
$2,284.00,  and  it  was  principally  sent  to  support  Dr. 
Rhenius  and  his  co-laborers  who,  for  conscience 
sake,  had  left  the  Church  of  England  and  had  es- 
tablished the  Palamcottah  Mission.  The  highest 
amount  contributed  under  the  old  organization  was 
given  in  the  biennium  1855-1857,  when  $11,876.00 
was  contributed  by  a  communicant  membership  of 
134,000.  Since  the  reorganization  the  following 
results  have  been  secured,  under  the  apportionment 
plan,  which  the  General  Synod  adopted  in  1873: 

The  first  apportionment  fixed  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions was  $25,222.00  per  year,  and  the  result  ob- 
tained, as  shown  in  the  report  of  the  Board  in  1875, 
was  $14,384.00  per  year,  or  a  little  more  than  half 
the  amount  apportioned. 

The  growth  of  benevolence  has  been  steady  dur- 
ing the  last  forty  years,  as  revealed  in  the  subjoined 
table,  and  the  contributions  from  all  sources  have 
risen  since  1868  from  6  cents  to  36  cents  per  com- 
municant member  in  1893,  the  highest  point  reached. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 


141 


The  Growth  of  Our  Receipts  as  Reported  to  the 
General  Synod. 


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n 

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a 

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3 

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a 

d 

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'V   0 

Oh  S 

a, 
a. 

< 

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u 

3 
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S 
0 

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i-i 

1869 

1871 

1873 

1875 

1877 

1879 

1881 

1883 

1885 

1887 

1889 

1891 

1893 

1895 

1897 

1899 

I901 

1903 

1905 

1907 

1909 

91720 
101369 
99246 
107423 
113128 
I 2264 I 

"7359 
130365 
134840 

I 347 10 
146556 
155081 

158763 
173408 
184728 
192299 
198428 
209942 
215847 
228524 
232247 

$5890  31 
13640  70 
28014  13 
28773  09 
36678  92 

38938  55 
30133  55 
50741  08 
60576  72 
62196  19 
82404  71 

97543  92 

1 13987  77 

99655  22 

85121  99 

97015  84 

96366  59 

122556  41 

136958  13 

I 4634 I  93 

170697  06 

.06 

$9411  81 
18066  04 
18687  13 
20679  73 
21879  75 
20640  65 
42643  05 
41422  79 
42856  03 
44966  37 
49039  57 
57159  59 
55629  79 

55195  78 
63996  21 
62399  89 
73921  44 
78571  23 
88563  98 
96222  47 

06 

15 

13 

16 

5138  30 
I461  15 

4795  01 
15355  74 

9821  28 
13568  47 
17363  30 
22780  45 
22292  21 
20431  21 
24566  31 
24160  81 
24538  01 
26923  13 
36884  93 
44799  22 

15 
13 
19 

22 

23 
28 

31 

36 
29 
23 
25 
25 
29 
31 
.32 

•37 

The  Children's  Missionary  Society  was  organized 
in  1872  by  the  sainted  Rowe,  in  co-operation  with 
a  number  of  Baltimore  pastors  and  Sunday  school 
superintendents.  Since  then  it  has  been  a  great  aid 
to  our  foreign  work  and  has  contributed  largely  to 
its  support. 

Away  back  in  1871,  the  Board  recommended  the 
"sending  out  of  females  as  missionaries  when  proper 
persons  shall  offer  themselves";  and  in  1877  it  rec- 


142  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

ommended  the  General  Synod  to  organize  the 
women  of  the  Church  into  missionary  societies. 
The  General  Synod  sets  forth  the  triple  aim  of  this 
valuable  auxiliary  to  be:  (i)  "To  spread  the 
knowledge  of  our  mission  work  in  this  and  foreign 
lands;  (2)  to  create  more  interest  in  this  work;  (3) 
to  secure  funds  to  prosecute  it." 

From  the  first  the  work  of  fostering  the  cause  of 
Foreign  Missions  and  directing  its  affairs  was  en- 
trusted to  a  society  known  as  the  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Society  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 
It  held  its  meetings  during  the  sessions  of  the  Gen- 
eral Synod  and  its  members  made  annual  contribu- 
tions to  its  funds.  The  President  of  the  General 
Synod  appointed  a  committee  to  nominate  officers, 
and  its  nominees  were  confirmed  by  the  General 
Synod.  Its  work  was  carried  on  by  an  Executive 
Committee.  Prominent  ministers  of  our  Church  be- 
came members  of  this  society,  and  in  1855  among 
the  Vice-Presidents  are  found  such  well-known 
names  as  Drs.  Morris,  Krauth,  Sprecher,  Springer, 
Jacobs,  Lochman,  Baugher,  and  Harkey. 

The  first  Treasurer  of  the  society  was  Mr.  Isaac 
Baugher.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  W.  C.  Bouck, 
who,  in  turn,  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Martin  Bueh- 
ler  in  1853,  who  continued  Treasurer  of  the  society 
and  became  subsequently  Treasurer  of  the  new 
Board  appointed  at  Washington,  D.  C,  in  1869, 
holding  under  both  organizations  this  responsible 


HISTORICAI.  SKETCH.  1 43 

office  for  more  than  twenty-seven  years.  In  July, 
1877,  Mr.  Oliver  F.  Lantz  was  elected  to  succeed 
him.  He  filled  the  office  most  efficiently  until  his 
death  (1907),  a  period  of  thirty  years. 

The  first  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Society 
was  the  Rev.  J.  Z.  Senderling,  who  remained  its 
efficient  and  devoted  head  until  1866.  On  his 
resignation  at  that  time  he  was  voted  an  Honor- 
arium by  the  General  Synod.  At  the  same  time  the 
Synod  authorized  the  appointment  of  a  Financial 
Secretary,  "whose  whole  time  shall  be  given  to  the 
financial  department  of  the  mission  work  and  the 
management  of  the  Mission  Journal."  In  1866,  the 
Rev.  A.  C.  Wedekind,  D.D.,  succeeded  him  as  Cor- 
responding Secretary,  in  turn  to  be  followed  by  the 
Rev.  J.  A.  Clutz,  D.D.,  on  the  removal  of  the  Board 
to  Baltimore,  in  1877.  Notwithstanding  the  above 
resolution  eleven  years  passed,  and  yet  no  full-time 
Secretary  was  employed.  In  1877,  the  General 
Synod  passed  the  following  action  :  "Resolved,  that 
it  is  the  sense  of  this  body  that  there  should  be  a 
paid  Secretary  of  Foreign  Missions  who  shall  devote 
all  his  time  to  the  interests  of  this  work."  And  yet 
the  Board,  because  of  "financial  embarrassment," 
made  no  appointment  until  1886,  when  the  Rev, 
George  Scholl,  D.D.,  became  the  first  General  Sec- 
retary, and  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the 
office  as  General  Secretary  until  November,  1901, 
when  the  Rev.  Marion  J.  Kline,  D.D.,  was  elected 


144  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

General  Secretary,  and  Dr.  Scholl  continued  as  Cor- 
responding Secretary.  The  latter  held  the  office  of 
Corresponding  Secretary  until  1903,  when  he  was 
made  Secretary  Emeritus  by  the  Board.  Dr.  Kline 
filled  the  office  of  General  Secretary  for  nearly  seven 
years,  resigning  the  appointment  to  take  up  the 
active  pastorate,  June  ist,  1908. 

Under  the  Executive  Committee  originally  the 
president  of  the  Society  had  little  to  do  with  the  in- 
ternal management  of  the  affairs  of  the  foreign 
work.  He  and  a  number  of  prominent  ministers 
simply  backed  the  Movement  in  the  Church.  Famil- 
iar names  like  Drs.  Baker,  Morris,  Krauth,  Kurtz 
and  Conrad,  are  found  among  the  Presidents  of  the 
Society.  The  Nominating  Committee,  in  1896,  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  presented  the  names  of  Rev.  L. 
E.  Albert,  D.D.,  Rev.  A.  C  Wedekind,  D.D.,  Rev. 
I.  K.  Funk  and  Messrs.  G.  P.  Ockershausen  and 
Martin  Buehler.  The  first  President  of  the  Board 
was  the  Rev.  L.  E.  Albert,  D.D.,  who  continued  at 
the  head  of  the  reorganized  work  until  the  Board 
was  removed  to  Baltimore  in  1877,  when  the  Rev. 
Charles  A.  Stork,  D.D.,  was  elected  President  of 
the  newly  constituted  Board,  whose  membership 
was  as  follows :  Rev.  Charles  A.  Stork,  D.D.,  Rev. 
J.  G.  Butler,  D.D.,  Rev.  George  Scholl,  Rev.  J.  A. 
Clutz,  Messrs.  Martin  Buehler,  W.  M.  Kemp,  M.D., 
S.  D.  Schmucker.  Dr.  Stork  remained  President  of 
the  Board  until  his  death  in  1884,  when  the  Rev. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  1 45 

J.  G.  Butler,  D.D.,  became  his  successor.  Dr.  But- 
ler continued  in  office  until  1895,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Rev.  F.  Ph.  Hennighausen,  D.D.,  who 
continued  President  of  the  Board  until  1897,  when 
the  present  President,  the  Rev.  Luther  Kuhlman, 
D.D.,  was  elected. 

The  Rev.  F.  C.  Heyer  sailed  for  India  in  1841. 
Let  us  follow  him  and  his  colleagues  in  the  establish- 
ment of  our  India  Mission. 

Landing  in  Ceylon  in  May,  1842,  by  easy  stages 
he  made  his  way  along  the  East  Coast  of  the  South- 
ern Peninsula,  reaching  Madras,  the  capital  city  of 
Southern  India,  early  in  June,  after  having  visited 
various  mission  stations  and  made  a  careful  study  of 
their  methods  of  work.  With  a  view  of  doing  the 
most  good  in  the  most  needy  region,  after  the  mat- 
ter was  fully  canvassed  with  the  missionaries  of  the 
various  Madras  Missionary  Societies,  he  was  rec- 
ommended to  open  work  in  the  Telugu  country.  All 
this,  however,  was  only  done  after  he  found,  for 
many  reasons,  that  co-operation  with  Rhenius  and 
his  co-laborers  was  impossible.  Early  in  June  in  a 
palanquin,  a  wheelless  vehicle,  borne  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  famous  India  bearers,  he  started  for  the 
Telugu  country.  What  a  feeble  hope  for  conquest 
was  this ! 

But  nothing  daunted,  on  the  31st  of  July,  1842, 
our  mission  founder  set  down  his  palanquin  and 
pitched  his  tent  in  the  very  heart  of  this  vast  popu- 


146  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

lation,  reaching  Guntur  and  being  kindly  welcomed 
by  Collector  Stokes,  the  devoted  friend  of  our  early 
missionaries  and  their  work.  We  can  only  roughly 
outline  the  method  of  work  undertaken,  touching  the 
salient  features  in  its  development.  Taking  his  cue 
from  other  missions,  he  laid  broad  and  deep  the 
foundation  of  the  work  in  line  with  the  best  tradi- 
tions of  the  missions  of  those  early  times,  and  es- 
pecially of  the  German  Societies.  He  gathered  the 
children  into  schools  and  thus  began  the  work  of 
training  and  educating  the  young,  which  has  marked 
our  work  to  the  present  time.  According  to  his 
ability  and  skill  in  the  use  of  the  language,  he  early 
began  to  preach  in  the  vernacular.  When  within  a 
year  he  was  joined  by  Gunn,  the  two  branches,  teach- 
ing and  preaching,  were  developed  simultaneously. 
From  this  method  the  mission  has  never  departed. 
Her  schools  culminating  in  her  college,  and  her 
evangelistic  work  among  the  masses,  were  carried 
on  as  the  two  great  arms  of  her  service  during  the 
first  forty  years  of  her  life,  and  no  serious  ques- 
tion has  since  arisen  in  regard  to  her  plan  of  opera- 
tion.  1  ■':•  I 

Special  work  on  behalf  of  high  caste  women  and 
children  was  carried  on  from  the  first  by  the  wives 
of  the  missionaries,  though  less  effectively  organized 
than  at  present.  In  1875  the  more  formal  organiza- 
tion of  girls'  schools  among  the  better  class  of  Hin- 
dus was  effected,  and  although  workers  were  scarce, 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  1 47 

in  1880,  the  first  single  woman  missionary  worker, 
Mrs.  Kate  Boggs  Shaffer,  Ph.D.,  was  set  apart  by 
the  Board,  supported  by  the  newly-organized 
Woman's  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
was  sent  to  India.  Before  she  could  organize  any 
work,  ill  health  forced  her  to  retire  from  the  field. 
In  1883,  the  formal  start  of  the  woman's  work 
was  made  under  the  India  Conference.  Dr.  Anna 
S.  Kugler  and  Miss  Fannie  Dryden,  B.A.,  were  the 
standard  bearers  of  this  new  movement.  In  1885, 
the  higher  educational  work,  the  college,  and  the 
medical  department,  were  inaugurated.  About  the 
same  time  the  industrial  department  for  Moham- 
medan women  and  children  was  opened.  In  1902, 
steps  were  taken  to  supplement  the  work  of  the  Mis- 
sion by  the  establishment  of  an  orphanage  in  which 
also  industries  should  be  taught. 

This  is  an  outline  of  the  development  of  the  Gun- 
tur  Mission  as  it  is  so  often  called.  To-day  every 
branch  of  work  prospers,  and  from  the  central  sta- 
tion at  Guntur,  our  work  has  spread  to  Tenali, 
fifteen  miles  away ;  to  Sattenapalli,  twenty-one  miles 
away ;  Narasarowpet,  twenty-eight  miles  away ;  to 
Chirala,  forty  miles  away ;  to  Rentachintala,  seventy 
miles  away,  and  to  Kanagiri  and  Cumbrum,  one 
hundred  miles  away,  and  stations  with  bungalows 
have  been  opened  at  Narasarowpet,  Sattenapalli, 
Rentachintala,  Chirala,  and  money  is  in  hand  for  the 
Tenali  Station,  and  operation  has  been  begun  upon 


148  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

the  building.  Sub-stations  exist  all  over  the  field  in 
which  are  found  514  congregations. 

Our  struggles  in  Africa  have  been  many  and 
severe  from  the  day  that  Officer  set  foot  on  the  dark 
continent.  A  most  deadly  climate  had  to  be  faced 
by  our  missionaries,  and  the  progress  made  was 
against  tremendous  odds. 

The  Muhlenberg  Mission  is  an  instance  of  heroic 
sacrifice.  Our  central  school  or  institute  as  it  was  at 
first  called,  became  the  nucleus  around  which  all 
work  moved.  Industries  were  added  and  a  farm 
cleared,  which,  from  time  to  time,  gave  good  re- 
turns in  produce  of  coffee  and  cassava,  furnishing 
"the  arts  of  civilization,"  referred  to  by  the  origina- 
tors of  the  mission.  In  19 10,  the  jubilee  of  the  mis- 
sion will  be  celebrated.  Officer,  Day  and  Beck  have 
inaugurated  and  maintained  the  traditions  of  the 
mission  from  the  first.  Others  whose  names  are  en- 
tered on  the  roll  of  the  skies,  or  whose  health  forced 
them  to  retire,  did  their  work  and  contributed  to  the 
sum  of  service  and  sacrifice.  The  plan  of  operation 
has  remained  unchanged  from  the  first,  nor  should 
it  be  altered  except  to  make  more  effective  both  sides 
of  the  work.  The  educational  and  the  industrial 
and  the  evangelistic  must  be  maintained  in  equal 
efficiency,  and  only  so  can  the  Africa  problem  be 
solved.  If  our  experiences  on  the  West  Coast  have 
been  hard,  and  if  our  progress  has  been  slow,  we 
have  only  repeated  the  experience  of  other  missions. 


HISTORICAI<  SKETCH.  149 

This  review  of  necessity  is  most  imperfect.  But 
the  main  line  of  development  has  been  followed,  we 
trust  clearly  and  helpfully.  If  it  shall  at  all  awaken 
interest  in  the  great  task  of  world-wide  evangeliza- 
tion, it  shall  have  accomplished  its  purpose,  and  this 
may  God  grant. 


II 

THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  WORLD 


THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  WORLD. 

PROF.   J.  A.   SINGMASTER^  D.D, 

The  great  commission  is  still  in  force. 

It  still  throbs  with  the  sacrificial  love  of  Christ 
for  a  lost  world.  It  is  yet  the  inspiration  and  the 
behest  of  the  noblest  service  which  man  can  render 
to  man.  There  can  be  no  modification  of  it,  and  no 
alternative.  The  Church  may  at  times  forget  it, 
or  excuse  the  neglect  of  it,  or  obey  it  in  a  half- 
hearted way;  but  ever  and  anon  the  Macedonian 
phantom  awakens  her  to  duty  with  the  touching  ap- 
peal, "Come  over  and  help  us." 

The  evangelization  of  the  world  is  no  slight  task. 
It  involves  perplexing  problems  of  the  most  varied 
character.  It  calls  for  the  best  thought  and  the 
richest  blood  of  the  Church.  It  involves  ages  of 
time  and  countless  multitudes.  No  mere  physical 
or  financial  problem  can  be  compared  with  it  either 
in  difficulty  or  importance.  In  a  sense  it  involves 
all  the  greatest  questions  of  human  thought — social, 
political,  economic,  religious. 

The  innumerable  details  of  the  work  of  Foreign 
Missions,  its  confusing  geographical,  linguistic  and 
political  complications,  its  apparently  slow  progress 
and  its  removal  from  the  personal  observation  of 

(153) 


154  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

the  church  at  home,  often  leave  a  very  confused 
impression  upon  the  mind,  and  may  even  fill  it  with 
feelings  akin  to  hopelessness. 

Nevertheless,  the  problem  is  a  comparatively  sim- 
ple one  when  viewed  as  a  whole  and  in  the  light  of 
the  Cross  of  Christ.  Foreign  Missions  are  based 
upon  the  great  truth  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and 
the  brotherhood  of  man.  This  may  be  expressed 
in  two  propositions  which  are  so  plain  that  no  man 
can  fail  to  understand  them  and  are  so  self-evident 
that  no  one  can  successfully  contradict  them.  They 
are  as  follows : 

I.  The  world  needs  the  knowledge  of 
Christ. 

II.  The  Church  must  give  that  knowledge. 

A  thorough  conviction  of  the  truth  and  the  prac- 
ticability of  these  propositions  is  fundamental  to 
interest  in  the  great  cause  of  missions.  The  present 
occasion  does  not  permit  the  amplification  of  these 
propositions.  Our  purpose  is  to  utter  a  prelude  to 
their  discussion  in  their  several  phases  during  this 
great  convention  which  opens  so  auspiciously  to- 
night. 

I.  The  world  needs  the  knowledge  of  Christ. 
Our  Lord  Himself  has  declared,  "Without  me  ye 
can  do  nothing" ;  and  the  response  of  the  saint  is,  *T 
need  Thee,  oh !  I  need  Thee."  It  is  the  undeniable 
verdict  of  history  that  the  highest  type  of  manhood 
and  of  womanhood  and  the  noblest  state  of  society 


THE    EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WORLD.       1 55 

are  the  product  of  Christianity.  All  other  religions 
have  failed  to  satisfy  human  need  and  to  lift  men 
above  the  squalor  and  sordidness  of  their  natural 
state. 

1.  Physically.  Christ  makes  man  every  whit 
whole.  He  touches  the  body  and  makes  it  clean  and 
well.  His  religion  promotes  health  and  long  life  by 
restricting  disease  and  healing  the  sick.  Plenty  and 
happiness  laugh  in  her  train.  The  heathen,  alas! 
are  smitten  with  a  thousand  ills.  Blindness,  leprosy 
and  the  plague  are  ever  decimating  their  ranks. 
Gaunt  famine  is  always  on  their  track,  carrying  mill- 
ions every  generation  to  untimely  graves.  Five 
hundred  millions  lie  down  hungry  every  night. 
Multitudes  satisfy  their  cravings  with  roots  from 
the  forest  or  with  offal,  the  mention  of  which 
awakens  horror. 

2.  Financially.  The  Christian  nations  are  the 
bankers  of  the  world.  They  could  literally  purchase 
out  of  their  surplus  all  the  heathen  countries  taken 
at  a  fair  market  valuation.  The  poverty  of  the 
heathen  is  proverbial.  The  wages  of  the  laborer 
average  probably  seven  or  eight  cents  a  day.  Even 
in  Japan  the  poor  man  hires  his  bed  covering  by  the 
night.  Unrequited  toil,  undeveloped  resources,  the 
absence  of  manufacturing  and  of  commerce  are  the 
dark  background  over  against  the  unparalleled 
prosperity  of  Christendom. 

3.  Mentally.      Illiteracy    and    superstition    rest 


156  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

like  a  pall  upon  the  heathen  world.  There  are  few 
schools  and  few  books.  The  mind  is  atrophied  by 
the  dense  ignorance  of  centuries.  Even  where  there 
has  been  some  knowledge  of  science,  as  in  China, 
its  progress  has  been  arrested  by  the  weakness  of 
their  moral  system  or  the  lack  of  the  supernatural 
help  of  Christianity. 

4.  Morally.  The  picture  painted  by  Paul  of 
the  moral  and  spiritual  state  of  the  heathen  is  still 
true  to  life.  Uncleanness,  infanticide,  murder,  ly- 
ing, theft,  the  degradation  of  woman  and  all  other 
evils  fill  the  heathen  world  with  the  miasma  which 
unrestrained  sin  ever  breeds.  The  heathen  are 
without  God  and  without  hope.  Their  present  de- 
plorable state  is  the  sad  prelude  to  the  doom  that 
must  inevitably  await  the  unnumbered  multitudes 
who  do  not  live  up  to  the  light  which  they  have. 

And  who  are  these  millions,  pray?  They  are 
our  brothers  and  sisters  in  distress. 

II.  The  Church  must  give  the  knowledge 
OF  Christ. 

I.  Her  exclusive  possession.  The  Church  alone 
has  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  It  is  her  chief  treas- 
ure, God  has  committed  to  her  His  oracles.  Not 
only  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  does  she  have  the  life- 
story  and  the  exceeding  great  and  precious  prom- 
ises of  her  Lord ;  but  she  has  all  holy  traditions  and 
history,  and  much  more,  the  living  Christ  enthroned 
in  the  heart  through  the  regenerating  grace  of  the 


THE   EVANGEUZATION   OF  THE  WORLD.       1 57 

Holy  Spirit.  If  the  world  is  to  know  Christ  it  must 
receive  the  knowledge  from  those  who  know  Him. 
The  very  possession  of  this  knowledge  carries  the 
obligation  of  its  dissemination. 

2.  Her  Moral  Obligation.  The  Church  is 
by  nature  altruistic.  Her  good  works  are  the 
measure  of  her  faith.  When  she  ceases  to  bring 
forth  these,  she  has  stopped  following  Him  who 
went  about  doing  good  not  only  to  Jew,  but  also  to 
Samaritan  and  to  Cyro-phcenician. 

Her  fidelity  to  her  trust  is  the  only  guaranty  of 
the  perpetuity  of  the  Church.  When  she  ceases  to 
be  evangelistic,  she  ceases  to  be  evangelical.  Her 
mission  is  at  an  end.  She  has  in  a  sense  ceased  to 
be.  Her  life  is  conditioned  by  her  power  to  re- 
produce herself.  Her  converts  are  the  evidence  of 
her  self-preservation.  It  is  not  simply  a  question 
of  saving  others,  but  of  saving  herself.  "He  that 
loseth  his  life  shall  save  it." 

After  all,  the  chief  motive  of  missions  must  ever 
be  found  in  the  divine  imperative,  "Go."  It  is  ab- 
solute. It  cannot  be  evaded  without  peril.  We 
must  either  go  ourselves  or  make  it  possible  for  an- 
other to  go  in  our  stead.  The  obligation  is  una- 
voidable. 

3.  Her  ability.  The  ability  of  the  Church  to 
meet  the  mission  obligation  cannot  be  doubted.  In- 
deed, it  is  evident  that  without  ability  there  could 
be  no  obligation.    The  Church  has  the  men  and  the 


158  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

women  to  act  as  her  agents.  She  has  them  in  such 
vast  numbers,  endowed  with  heahh  and  brilhant 
gifts,  trained  in  her  schools,  skilled  in  the  arts,  capa- 
ble of  adaptation  to  all  conditions,  that  under  the 
leadership  of  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  they 
might  go  forth  a  vast  and  irresistible  host,  sweeping 
all  opposition  before  it. 

The  Church  has  the  resources  of  empire  at  her 
control.  She  can  command  millions  of  treasure. 
She  can  use  the  modern  discoveries  and  arts.  Steam 
and  electricity,  commerce,  manufacturing  and  agri- 
culture are  her  allies.  A  peaceful  campaign — indus- 
trial, educational  and  evangelistic — employing  the 
vast  resources  at  the  command  of  the  Church  and 
administered  with  the  wisdom  and  enterprise  of 
successful  business  would  revolutionize  the  world 
in  fourscore  years. 

The  supremest  gift  of  the  Church  is  the  divine 
promise.  "All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  me 
in  heaven  and  on  earth."  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  al- 
ways, even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  Thus  saith 
our  Lord.  Moreover,  He  has  poured  out  His  Spirit 
to  abide  with  us  in  His  pentecostal  power  until  the 
victory  shall  have  been  won. 

ni.     How  HAS  THE  Church  obeyed  the  great 

COMMISSION? 

The  startling  fact  stares  us  in  the  face  that  after 
all  these  centuries  probably  two-thirds  of  the  hu- 
man race  are  yet  without  the  gospel.     A  student  of 


THE   EVANGEUZATION   OF  THE  WORLD.       1 59 

missions  says  that  there  are  twenty-five  thousand 
groups  of  people  each  numbering  twenty-five  thou- 
sand without  a  single  missionary. 

We  ought,  however,  not  to  forget  the  enormous 
progress  made  by  missions  during  the  last  century, 
nor  the  present  status  of  the  cause.  There  are  now 
33,000  stations;  7,000  men  missionaries  and  8,000 
women;  78,000  native  workers;  1,400,000  com- 
municants; over  1,000,000  under  instruction,  and 
over  $20,000,000.00  of  annual  income.  These  fig- 
ures, however,  can  give  no  idea  of  the  blessed  in- 
fluence of  missions  in  modifying  national  life  and 
slowly  leavening  the  world. 

The  statistical  table  furnishes  a  basis  for  compar- 
ison. How  small  the  outlay  alongside  of  the  world's 
naval  armaments  and  military  expenses!  The  re- 
cent Boer  war  cost  England  25,000  lives  and  a  bill- 
ion dollars  in  money,  which  is  doubtless  more  than 
has  been  spent  on  the  evangelization  of  Africa  in 
nineteen  centuries. 

Were  the  whole  Church  possessed  by  the  spirit 
of  missions  as  the  Moravians  are,  the  world  would 
probably  be  Christian  now.  They  have  one  foreign 
missionary  to  every  fifty-eight  communicants  at 
home,  and  their  membership  abroad  outnumbers 
that  at  home  nearly  three  to  one.  Instead  of  15,- 
000  missionaries  there  would  be  300,000  if  the 
Church  at  large  imitated  the  Moravians. 


l6o  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

How  much  good  the  Church  might  have  done 
in  reheving  the  sufferings  of  mankind  had  she 
maintained  the  missionary  activity  of  the  apostles! 
How  much  evil  might  she  not  have  prevented !  At 
this  very  moment  the  regions  once  visited  by  the 
great  apostle  to  the  gentiles  are  echoing  with  the 
lamentations  of  widows  and  orphans  over  the  re- 
mains of  loved  ones  who  have  been  butchered  to 
glut  the  hate  of  unbelievers.  Is  not  the  Church  in 
Christian  nations  in  a  measure  responsible  for  condi- 
tions which  make  such  awful  atrocities  possible? 

The  gospel  leaven  is  working  throughout  the 
world  as  never  before.  This  generation  has  wit- 
nessed mighty  national  upheavals.  Tyranny  and  ab- 
solutism are  tottering.  Constitutional  government 
is  becoming  universal.  The  rights  of  man  are  being 
recognized.  Marvelous  transformations  are  taking 
place  all  over  the  world.  The  heart  of  Africa  has 
responded  to  the  divine  touch,  and  lo !  a  hundred 
thousand  at  Uganda  have  become  children  of  light. 

Amid  the  crash  of  empires,  the  fall  of  heathen 
temples,  the  march  of  Mohammedanism,  the  awak- 
ening of  the  orient,  the  greed  of  European  govern- 
ments, the  quickening  of  the  human  mind,  the  fer- 
ment of  the  nations — what  will  the  Church  do? 
Will  she  rise  to  the  opportunity  and  by  her  holy 
commission  proclaim  the  life  and  the  light  of  the 
Son  of  God  ?  Baptized  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  panoplied 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WORLD.       l6l 

with  the  armor  of  God,  endued  with  the  sacrificial 
Spirit,  thrilled  by  the  vision  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Church  will  lay  the  world  as  the  trophy  of  His  vic- 
tory at  the  feet  of  her  Lord. 


Ill 

THE  MODERN  SPIRIT  OF  WORLD- 
EVANGELIZATION 


THE  MODERN   SPIRIT  OF  WORLD- 
EVANGELIZATION. 

PROF.    LUTHER    KUHLMAN,,    D.D. 

The  familiar  words  with  which  our  Lord  con- 
cluded His  instructions  to  His  followers  may  be 
variously  viewed.  They  are  either  a  summary  of 
divine  revelation,  or  a  forecast  of  the  goal  toward 
which  all  forces,  human  and  divine,  move  until  He 
come  again.  In  their  relation  to  the  theme  which  I 
am  to  consider  with  you  to-night,  I  think  of  them  as 
a  stirring  call  to  arms.  A  stupendous  conflict  is  on. 
The  line  of  battle  stretches  round  the  world.  It  in- 
volves the  destiny  of  the  people  of  every  land.  We 
are  in  the  fight.  We  cannot  retreat  if  we  would. 
"There  are  only  two  alternatives — universal  con- 
quest, or  abject  surrender."  To  gain  a  juster  ap- 
preciation of  this  conflict  and  the  issues  involved,  to 
convince  ourselves  that  victory  is  possible,  to  fortify 
our  courage  and  increase  our  devotion,  to  stimulate 
our  liberality,  let  us  note  some  of  the  marks  of 
this  modern  world-missionary  spirit. 

I  have  described  this  spirit  as  modern,  and  in  the 
minds  of  some  the  question  may  arise  whether  I  am 
justified  in  so  designating  it.  I  reply,  no,  and  yes. 
Certainly  it  is  as  old  as  Christianity.  Since  the 
Lord  of  the  Church  gave  His  final  command  there 

^    (165) 


1 66  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

has  not  been  a  period  in  which  there  have  not  been 
those  choice  ones  responsive  thereto,  and  yearning 
to  obey  it.  Nay,  this  spirit  throbs  with  strong  and 
positive  pulsations  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  lives 
in  the  great  structural  doctrines  of  that  inspired 
record,  while  visions  of  its  fulfillment,  fair  and  en- 
trancing, abound  in  its  prophecies.  No,  in  its  es- 
sence this  spirit  is  not  modern,  but  ancient. 

When,  however,  we  think  of  the  manifestation  of 
that  spirit,  particularly  in  this  and  the  last  century, 
it  is  not  inaccurate  to  characterize  it  as  modern. 
Dr.  Dennis  puts  my  thought  strikingly  when  he 
likens  "the  modern  world  missionary  movement 
to  one  of  those  vast  continental  upheavals  in  old 
geologic  times.  This  movement  is  a  veritable  new 
realm  of  continental  proportions.  It  has  come  to 
stay,  and  its  triumph  will  be  the  most  convincing 
vindication  of  historical  Christianity,"  Bishop 
Bashford  suggests  the  same  thought  when  he  says : 
"Astonishing  as  it  sounds,  it  is  yet  literally  true 
that  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  race  made  more 
progress  in  the  last  hundred  years  than  during  the 
preceding  eighteen  hundred  years.  Nor  is  it  vis- 
ionary to  anticipate  the  evangelization  of  a  thou- 
sand million  of  people  by  the  close  of  the  present 
century."  The  old  spirit,  indeed,  but  it  has  had  a 
new  birth,  and  exhibits  an  intensity  and  energy  not 
surpassed  since  the  apostolic  age.  And  the  most 
impressive  testimony  to  the  existence  of  this  modern 


MODERN  SPIRIT  OF  WORLD-EVANGEUZATION.       167 

Spirit  comes  not  from  missionaries  on  the  firing  line, 
nor  from  official  workers  here  at  home,  but  from 
those  not  directly  concerned  with  the  missionary  en- 
terprise. Indeed,  in  some  instances  they  are  indif- 
ferent, even  hostile,  thereto.  Builders  of  political 
empires,  promoters  of  world-encircling  commercial 
schemes,  captains  of  armies,  historians,  investigat- 
ors and  travelers,  all  unite  in  attesting  the  strength 
and  force  of  this  movement.  The  claim  of  all  au- 
thority in  heaven  and  in  earth  by  the  crucified  One 
is  not  empty  declamation.  He  is  the  King.  All 
forces  operative  in  human  life  and  history  flow  from 
His  pierced  hands,  and  drive  all  activities  on  toward 
his  goal.  And  while  this  spirit  recognizes  fully  the 
need  of  completing  the  Christianizing  of  the  nations 
already  accounted  Christian,  its  supreme  aim  is  for 
the  many  millions  for  whom  Christ  died,  and  who 
have  hitherto  had  no  adequate  opportunity  to  know 
and  accept  the  grace  of  God.  Its  purpose  is  that 
the  obligation  to  the  teeming  heathen  millions,  under 
which  the  possession  of  the  gospel  places  the  Chris- 
tian portion  of  the  world  should  be  denied  no 
longer.  It  can  be,  and  therefore  should  be,  dis- 
charged, and  that  promptly. 

This  spirit,  as  thus  defined,  has  at  length  come 
to  a  pretty  clear  understanding  as  to  what  its  task 
is.  World-evangelization  is  not  a  simple,  but  a  com- 
plex work.  It  touches  and  changes  the  lives  and 
conditions   of  individuals   and   communities   in   so 


1 68  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

many  ways,  brings  about  so  many  good  results, 
that  it  has  been  easy  to  lose  sight  of  the  essential 
aim.  Does  it  include  the  removal  of  ignorance,  the 
righting  of  all  wrongs,  correction  of  abuses,  break- 
ing of  all  bonds  of  every  kind,  in  a  word,  the  com- 
plete transformation  in  all  its  aspects  of  the  whole 
fabric  of  heathen  civilization  or  barbarism  as  the 
case  may  be?  So  it  has  been  thought.  The  pres- 
ent accepted  aim,  however,  of  the  missionary  move- 
ment is  narrower  than  this,  and  may  be  put  in  a 
few  words  to  be,  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ  in 
such  measure  as  that  the  people  of  a  community  or 
nation  may  have  a  fair  and  adequate  opportunity 
to  know,  accept  and  confess  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour 
and  Lord,  and  then  to  gather  these  converts  into 
self-maintaining,  self-directing,  self-extending  con- 
gregations. Just  how  much  preparatory,  educational, 
reformatory,  medical  or  even  industrial  work  will 
have  to  be  done  before  the  Christian  plan  of  re- 
demption can  be  thus  presented,  and  how  long  time 
it  will  require,  will  depend  upon  widely  differing 
conditions,  but  when  this  stage  is  reached,  and  this 
is  the  point  to  be  held,  then  the  distinctive  task  of 
Foreign  Missions  has  been  accomplished.  Chris- 
tianization  will  not  then  be  complete,  in  fact  only 
begun,  but  this  is  the  duty  and  work  of  the  native 
church  and  not  of  Foreign  Missions  as  such.  In 
every  mission  field  there  must  come  a  time  when  for- 
eign support  and  guidance  are  withdrawn,  and  the 


MODERN  SPIRIT  OF  WORLD-EVANGELIZATION.       1 69 

people  of  the  community  or  nation  must  work  out 
their  own  redemption. 

Again,  this  spirit  takes  itself  seriously — and  that 
in  several  directions.  For  one  thing,  its  claim  is 
that  it  is  an  original,  constitutive  element  in  Chris- 
tianity. Eliminate  this  spirit,  and  what  remains 
will  be  something  essentially  less  than  genuine 
Christianity.  To  receive  Christ  in  any  adequate 
sense,  is  to  incur  the  obligation  to  communicate 
Him.  These  two  go  together  and  are  inseparable. 
Missionary  sympathy,  missionary  interest,  mission- 
ary effort,  are  not  the  distinguishing  marks  of  a 
superior  class  of  christians;  they  are  common  to 
all  genuine  christians.  Hence,  if  there  are  those 
who  insist  that  they  are  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  believe  His  word,  accept  His  leadership,  and 
then  strike  from  their  creed  the  duty  of  world-evan- 
gelization, why,  it  firmly  and  frankly  disallows  their 
claim  to  discipleship  at  all.  In  such  cases  it  can 
only  apply  the  Scriptural  test,  "If  any  man  have  not 
the  spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none  of  His,"  and  that  ends 
all  argument. 

Serious  also  when  it  asserts  the  supremacy  of  the 
task  in  which  it  is  engaged  and  which  it  inspires. 
I  say  it  deliberately,  and  with  no  intention  to  ques- 
tion the  divine  warrant  of  any  other  truly  Christian 
line  of  work,  that  world-evangelization  consents  to 
no  second  place.  Larger,  worthier  task  than  this 
there  is  not,  for  it  measures  the  purpose  and  the  love 


170  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

of  the  eternal  God.  No  fair  and  broad  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Bible  can  assign  this  cause  a  subsidiary 
place,  or  make  it  appear  to  ultimately  flow  into  some 
larger  cause.  It  is  itself  the  main  stream,  attract- 
ing to  and  absorbing  in  itself  the  results  of  all  other 
lines  of  activity  as  it  moves  to  its  consummation  at 
the  end  of  the  ages. 

Wholly  serious  again  is  this  spirit  when  it  pre- 
sents world-evangelization  as  a  present,  feasible  task. 
Long,  weary  centuries  the  Lord's  parting  injunction 
has  stood,  and  certain  it  is  that  since  the  apostolic 
age  no  one  of  the  many  generations  of  christians 
that  have  come  and  gone  has  taken  that  final  com- 
mand as  assigning  a  work  to  be  actually  performed 
by  that  generation.  Always,  as  I  have  said  already, 
some  have  felt  the  burden  of  this  responsibility, 
and  by  prayer  and  effort  have  wrought  at  it  as  best 
they  could.  Yet  little  was  effected.  The  progress 
has  been  discouragingly  slow.  Indeed,  the  task 
seemed  to  grow  larger  as  time  went  on,  until  now 
it  confronts  the  christian  of  this  age.  And  while 
this  new  spirit  casts  no  reproach  back  upon  the  ages 
gone,  it  does  say,  and  is  in  dead  earnest  when  it 
says  that  the  time  for  temporizing  is  fully  past. 
True,  the  problem  is  great,  greater  than  we  prob- 
ably fully  appreciate.  It  is  beset  by  serious  dif- 
ficulties, and  others  will  arise  as  we  go  forward. 
Hostile  forces,  human  and  satanic,  subtle  and 
strong,  will  oppose.     Sacrifices  of  treasure  and  life 


MODERN  SPIRIT  OF  WORLD-EVANGEUZATION.       171 

will  be  required.  Yet  it  can  be,  and,  therefore, 
ought  to  be  done.  Looked  at  from  the  side  of  the 
world  to  be  evangelized  there  are  no  insuperable 
difficulties.  Circumscribed  localities  may  be  unsafe 
for  the  missionary,  yet  the  world  is  open.  Hitherto 
restraining  walls,  like  those  of  ancient  Jericho,  have 
fallen  to  earth.  Numerous  preparatory  agencies 
have  done  their  work  practically  in  the  entire  orient, 
until  now  from  every  important  field  comes  the 
earnest  appeal,  "Come  over  and  help  us."  Neither 
is  there  impossibility  from  the  side  of  the  Church. 
She  can  plead  the  lack  neither  of  men  nor  women, 
nor  of  money  to  sustain  them.  The  Lord  has  poured 
into  her  treasuries  gold  and  silver  almost  beyond 
compute.  She  has  the  influence  and  the  power,  and 
all  the  necessary  organization  for  its  prosecution  is 
at  hand.  Given  the  willingness  to  do  so,  and  the 
Christian  Church  of  the  United  States  alone  can 
perform  the  task.  Professor  James  Orr  recently 
said,  in  Glasgow,  that  the  British  empire  spent  more 
money  last  year  for  liquor  than  the  whole  Church 
has  contributed  for  conducting  its  missionary  en- 
terprises during  the  entire  nineteenth  century.  A 
startling  statement.  "If  this  were  a  human  project 
men  would  scorn  to  waste  time  in  discussing  its 
feasibility."  To  build  the  Congo  River  Railway, 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  long,  required 
vast  sums  of  money,  and  four  thousand  lives,  eigh- 
teen for  every  mile  of  road  constructed,  were  sac- 


173  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

rificed.  Has  the  whole  Foreign  Missionary  enter- 
prise of  the  past  century  claimed  so  many  lives  as 
that,  taken  away  by  violence  or  prematurely?  I  do 
not  have  the  statistics  at  hand,  but  I  very  much 
doubt  it.  Several  years  since  the  management  of  a 
great  road  decided  that  better  facilities  for  entrance 
into  New  York  City  were  necessary,  and  the  en- 
gineers were  directed  to  devise  them.  It  was  no 
easy  problem,  but  in  due  time  report  was  made  that 
tunnels  could  be  driven  under  the  river  and  so  en- 
trance gained  into  the  city.  "Is  that  feasible?" 
"Yes."  "How  much  will  it  cost?"  "Fifty  million 
dollars."  And  the  thing  was  done,  not  talked  about 
and  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation  as 
an  unfinished  task.  Before  courage  and  purpose 
obstacles  remove  as  the  mists  of  the  morning  melt 
into  thin  air  under  the  influence  of  the  sun.  So  be- 
lieve me,  friends,  I  am  not  daft  when  I  afiirm  that 
this  project  in  which  we  are  engaged,  great  as  it  is, 
viewed  as  a  merely  human  one,  can  be  brought  to  a 
successful  finish  now. 

And  yet  this  is  not  a  human  undertaking.  It  is 
God's  work  through  our  agency.  His  adorable 
Son,  our  Redeemer  and  Lord,  set  us  the  task.  We 
go  not  upon  our  own  initiative  but  upon  His  order, 
and  He  is  with  us.  If  alone,  and  as  a  merely  human 
undertaking,  we  could  accomplish  it,  pray,  do  His 
word,  His  promise,  His  grace,  His  presence,  render 
it  an  impossibility?    Has  it,  then,  come  to  this,  that 


MODERN  SPIRIT  OF  WORLD-EVANGELIZATION.       1 73 

we  have  less  faith  in  God  than  men  have  in  them- 
selves ?  Yet  men  and  women,  plenty  of  them,  some 
of  them  here,  practical  people,  of  hard  sense,  and 
upon  whose  sincerity  I  would  cast  no  shadow,  will 
shake  their  wise  heads  and  say,  "It  cannot  be  done." 
And  this  with  an  air  of  finality.  What  avails  it  to 
urge  men  to  an  impossibility!  Suffer  me  while  I 
press  this  point  with  some  earnestness  just  for  a 
moment.  It  is  worth  while  asking,  zvhy  cannot  the 
Church  accomplish  this  command  now — in  this  gen- 
eration, so  that  no  one  now  living  should  advance 
to  old  age  without  hearing  of  Christ  and  His  salva- 
tion? Why  has  the  Church  bearing  the  name  of 
Christ,  redeemed  by  His  blood,  endowed  by  His 
Spirit,  with  His  gospel  in  her  hand,  why  has  she  no 
feet  to  go,  no  wings  to  fly,  no  mouth  to  proclaim 
the  tidings?  He  assigns  the  task  to  us  now — not 
to  any  past  generation,  nor  to  one  yet  unborn,  but 
to  us,  and  we  must  be  equal  to  it  or  He  would  not 
do  so.  Christ,  upon  His  return  to  the  Father, 
placed  the  completion  of  His  work  in  charge  of  His 
followers.  He  has  made  no  other  arrangements. 
He  trusts  His  Church.  Why  shall  not  the  Church 
answer  faith  with  faith  and  say,  "Yes,  I  can,  and  I 
will"  ?  And  do  you  say,  "Yes,  your  logic  is  all 
right;  theoretically  she  can,  and  she  ought,  but 
actually  she  mill  not,  and  we  must  deal  with  facts 
and  not  with  theories."  Very  well,  and  the  fact  at 
which  we  have  arrived  is,  that  her  will  not  is  her 


174  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

cannot.  Listen  while  I  tell  you  why  her  will  not 
is  her  cannot:  the  love  of  Christ  in  her  heart  is 
either  dead,  or  ready  to  die ;  she  has  no  passion  for 
souls,  and  the  piteous  cry  of  the  perishing  milHons 
moves  her  not;  the  spirit  of  sacrifice  and  heroic  en- 
deavor, the  very  sign  of  true  Christianity,  she  has 
strangled;  she  is  luxurious,  ease-loving,  pleasure- 
seeking,  mammon-mad,  and  therefore  cold,  meager, 
squalid  and  selfish.  All  subterfuge  aside,  this  is 
why  in  response  to  the  insistent  appeals  of  this  great 
cause  she  argues  and  questions,  gives  the  merest 
fragments  of  her  treasures  instead  of  her  all ;  this  is 
why  she  sits  dumb  and  helpless  before  this  colossal 
and  yet  sublime  and  glorious  task.  It  is  not  pleasant 
to  say  this,  and  I  may  be  condemned  for  making 
such  an  arraignment  upon  an  occasion  when  felici- 
tations are  in  order.  If  so,  I  can  only  afiirm  that  I 
have  no  disposition  to  speak  disparagingly  of  the 
Church,  her  work  and  achievements,  and  least  of  all 
of  that  church  through  which  I  have  my  spiritual 
inheritance.  Yet  I  must  give  expression  to  convic- 
tions, not  hastily  formed. 

This  spirit  is  also  sane  and  practical.  It  was  not 
always  thus  esteemed.  The  experience  of  Carey  will 
serve  as  illustration.  To  his  brethren  he  seemed  a 
dreamer,  one  who  uttered  idle  tales.  By  the  ecclesi- 
astical leaders  of  his  time  his  views  were  looked 
upon  as  irrational,  and  his  plans  as  impractical, 
visionary.    When,  upon  one  occasion,  he  ventured  to 


MODERN  SPIRIT  OF  WORLD-EVANGEUZATION.       1 75 

ask  whether  the  command  given  to  the  apostles  to 
teach  all  nations  was  not  obligatory  upon  all  minis- 
ters to  the  end  of  the  world,  the  aged  Dr.  Ryland 
replied  :  "Sit  down,  young  man.  You  are  a  miser- 
able enthusiast  to  ask  such  a  question.  When  God 
wants  to  convert  the  heathen  He  can  do  it  without 
your  help."  Well,  the  romantic  age — and  there  was 
such  a  period — of  missions  is  a  thing  of  the  past. 
Uninformed  sentimentalism  expending  itself  in  im- 
practical schemes  has  had  its  day.  We  have  arrived 
at  the  time  when  this  vast  enterprise  is  projected 
along  the  very  best  plans,  carried  forward  in  the 
use  of  the  best  agencies  that  clear  insight,  sound 
judgment  and  hard  sense  have  been  able  to  devise. 
More  than  almost  any  other  undertaking,  world- 
evangelization  has  been  subjected  to  searching  criti- 
cism, and  much  of  it  unfriendly.  Yet  the  verdict 
is  distinctly  in  its  favor.  Men  not  directly  connected 
therewith  and  yet  in  position  to  know,  have  spoken 
in  unqualified  terms  of  the  care  and  fidelity,  the 
economy  and  far-seeing  judgment  displayed  in  the 
conduct  of  this  work.  Of  course,  there  has  been 
experiment.  Some  plans  have  failed,  and  had  to  be 
abandoned.  When  we  take  into  account  the  diffi- 
culties, and  the  utterly  strange  and  varied  conditions 
under  which  the  work  has  been  done,  the  wonder  is 
that  the  mistakes  have  been  so  few,  and  that  the 
progress  has  been  so  great.  And  it  would  be  too 
much  to  say  that  even  now  the  whole  undertaking 


176  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

has  been  reduced  to  a  science  of  missions,  complete 
and  exact.  Yet  a  good  beginning  has  been  made. 
The  principles  that  underlie  it  are  understood,  and 
the  chief  methods  and  agencies  for  the  conduct  of 
mission  work  are  agreed  upon.  From  time  to  time 
there  will  be  changes,  but  chiefly  in  matters  of 
detail  and  by  way  of  adaptation.  Worthy  of  note 
and  commendation  also  is  the  willingness  of  the 
workers  in  one  field  to  learn  from  and  profit  by  the 
experience  of  the  workers  in  every  other  field.  The 
program  for  the  next  World  Missionary  Conference, 
to  be  held  in  Edinburgh,  June,  1910,  exemplifies 
this.  Eight  comprehensive  commissions,  composed 
of  members  selected  from  all  parts  of  the  great  field 
and  because  of  their  special  qualifications  for  the 
particular  tasks  assigned,  have  been  for  many 
months  engaged  in  preparing  their  reports.  In  this 
way  the  whole  vast  project  in  every  feature  thereof 
will  be  subjected  to  a  fresh  and  exhaustive  study. 
Unsurpassed  enthusiasm,  zeal,  devotion,  and  bold 
endeavor,  are  balanced  by  prudence  and  care,  by 
hard,  practical  sense  and  wise  statesmanship.  Such 
are  some  of  the  outstanding  qualities  of  this  modem 
world-missionary    spirit. 

That  instructive  and  inspiring  advocate  of  this 
great  cause,  Mr.  Robert  Speer,  has  said,  "The 
Church  needs  a  supreme  world  purpose,  such  as 
this,  which  will  forbid  her  trifling  away  the  time  of 
God,  playing  with  details  while  men  die."     When 


MODERN  SPIRIT  OF  WORLD-EVANGEUZATION.       1 77 

Peter  the  Hermit  aroused  Europe  to  attempt  the 
recovery  of  the  Holy  Land  from  the  hand  of  the 
infidel  his  battle-cry  was,  "It  is  the  will  of  God." 
Again  and  again  nations  have  been  seized  by  a 
mighty  conviction,  and  in  the  white  heat  of  that 
temper  wrongs  hoary  with  age  and  gory  have  been 
righted;  injustice  has  been  whipped  back  into  the 
darkness  whence  it  came,  while  truth  and  righteous- 
ness have  been  enthroned ;  and  the  world  has  moved 
permanently  upward  and  onward.  To  come  into 
some  such  high  and  holy  mood  is  the  need  of  the 
Church.  To  lift  her  out  of  indifference  and  sordid- 
ness,  to  counteract  the  slow  poison  of  error  and 
unbelief,  to  rescue  her  from  the  profitless  discussion 
of  infinitesimals,  to  cast  out  the  black  demon  of 
bigotry  and  Pharisaism,  to  allay  her  strife,  heal  her 
divisions,  to  answer  the  prayer  of  her  Lord  that  she 
may  be  one,  for  this  she  needs  a  battle-cry.  On  her 
banner  let  her  emblazon  the  appeal  of  this  spirit, 
"Christ  for  the  world,  that  Christ  may  bring  the 
world  to  Himself."  Observe  the  order.  Christ  for 
the  world ;  that  belongs  to  her.  To  bring  the  world 
to  Christ  is  the  function  of  energies  divine.  "And  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  This 
will  require  that  the  Church  place  her  sons  and 
her  daughters,  her  treasure,  her  all  upon  the  altar — 
enter  upon  the  way  of  the  cross.  Yes,  and  there 
is  no  other  way  to  complete  obedience.  And  this  is 
the  way  to  her  crowning. 


IV 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AND  WORLD- 
WIDE EVANGELIZATION 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AND  WORLD- 
WIDE EVANGELIZATION. 

PROF.  D.    H.   BAUSLIN_,  D.D. 

The  race  of  mankind  has  been  created  so  as  to 
need  God,  and  accordingly  has,  in  view  of  its  adap- 
tation, a  right  to  God.  The  people  who  have  the 
best  knowledge  of  Him  lie  under  supreme  obliga- 
tions to  make  Him  known.  The  men  who  need 
have  rights  that  the  men  who  possess  dare  not  dis- 
regard. The  men  who  have  the  heritage  of  life  in 
Christ  owe  to  the  men  who  are  destitute  of  that 
heritage  duties  they  cannot  afford  to  leave  unful- 
filled. In  the  work  of  world-wide  evangelization, 
to  believe,  as  St.  Paul  believed,  is  to  be  bound  to 
act  as  St.  Paul  acted.  If  our  belief  is  that  of 
Augustine,  the  greatest  of  the  Church  fathers,  that 
man  was  made  for  God  and  is  not  at  rest  until  he 
finds  God,  that  he  is  constituted  to  share  in  the  bene- 
fits of  the  redemption  provided  in  Jesus  Christ, 
then  it  is  clearly  the  duty  of  such  that  so  believe  to 
help  them  in  their  search,  so  as  to  bring  them  to  the 
God  they  need,  to  their  real  and  true  home  in  His 
eternal  love  and  life.  Now  the  religion  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  is  the  religion  man  needs.  It  has  come 
from  God  that  it  may  bring  to  God.    Other  religions 

(i8i) 


l83  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

have  risen  out  of  man's  search  for  God;  ours  has 
come  out  of  God's  benignant  search  for  man.  God 
created  it  for  man,  and  man  has  now  a  right  to 
God's  glorious  and  universal  gift.  Christian  salva- 
tion is  the  only  salvation  worthy  of  God  and  ade- 
quate for  mankind,  and  we  who  have  received  it  and 
shared  in  its  benefits  dare  not  quarantine  or  inter- 
cept it.  In  the  pathetic  cry  of  heathendom  there  is 
the  voice  of  God,  and  when  that  voice  is  heard  every 
true  Church  of  the  Redeemer  of  mankind  must 
obey,  or  cease  to  be  in  any  true  sense  a  faithful  wit- 
ness to  the  facts  of  the  redemptive  history. 

The  Lutheran  Church  claims  no  monopoly  of  the 
resources  for  the  world's  conversion.  As  all  other 
Churches  share  in  the  responsibility  for  the  work 
to  be  done,  they  also  share  in  the  means  for  doing 
it.  Of  the  resources  possessed  by  Lutheranism  for 
world-evangelization,  of  course  it  must  regard  its 
own  peculiar  apprehension  of  the  gospel  and  its 
own  distinctive  spiritual  life  as  of  primary  im- 
portance. If  our  church  takes  itself  seriously  and 
has  any  religious  convictions  worth  cherishing;  if 
it  be  true  to  its  own  history  and  the  truth  that  in 
all  sincerity  it  confesses,  it  will  assuredly  be  inspired 
and  impelled  in  its  missionary  as  in  other  under- 
takings, by  the  belief  that  it  holds  to  and  con- 
fesses the  gospel  in  a  manner  and  in  a  fullness  that 
specially  adapts  it  to  meet  its  responsibilities  and 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AND  EVANGELIZATION.  1 83 

do  its  full  share  in  bringing  the  message  of  salvation 
to  all  mankind. 

Our  beloved  church  is  not  weighed  down  in  her 
operations  by  certain  over-emphasized  features  of 
Augustinian  exclusiveness  on  the  one  hand,  nor  by 
Pelagian  latitudinarianism  on  the  other.  Her  pre- 
sentation of  the  gospel  does  not  demand  a  meta- 
physical proposition  in  mental  philosophy  nor  a 
sacerdotal  manipulation  before  she  can  enter  upon 
her  work.  Our  system  of  Christian  truth  stands 
for  the  disclosure  and  application  of  a  real  grace, 
which  can  be  experienced  and  proved  in  the  soul's 
life.  Its  challenge  is,  "One  thing  I  know,  that 
whereas  I  was  blind  I  now  see."  It  stands  for  the 
application  of  a  supernaturally  designed  message  of 
grace  which  is  available  for  the  most  poverty- 
stricken  Pariah  of  India  or  the  most  sunken  bar- 
barian in  Africa,  as  it  is  for  the  most  civilized  peo- 
ples of  the  west.  Its  message  is  that  of  a  divine 
love  which  ever  outreaches  to  impart  to  all  kinds 
and  conditions  of  men  God's  own  type  of  blessed- 
ness in  the  unfolding  of  the  christian  life.  We  still 
believe  that  the  principles  which  underlie  the 
Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  are  the  prin- 
ciples adapted  to  the  twentieth  century ;  that  they  are 
such  vital  principles  that  they  will  still  give  peace  to 
the  troubled  conscience  and  calmness  to  the  dis- 
tressed soul,  not  only  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania, 
but  also  in  India,  in  Africa,  in  China  and  in  the 


184  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

islands  of  the  sea.  We  believe  in  all  sincerity  that  a 
church  which  still  stands  in  all  its  integrity  for  the 
great  truths  of  the  unrestricted  love  of  God  to  our 
fallen  race,  of  a  general  redemption  through  Jesus 
Christ,  for  the  fact  that  the  gospel  is  a  great  uni- 
versal absolution  which  God  has  proclaimed  to  all 
men,  which  everyone  can  take  to  himself  and  every- 
one can  depend  upon  as  certainly  as  God  is  true; 
for  the  truth  that  men  are  justified  freely  through 
faith,  and  that  the  means  of  grace  are  not  symbolical 
merely,  but  graciously  effective,  and  for  a  religion 
centering  in  a  divine  and  all-sufficient  Saviour,  and 
which  can  be  tested  experimentally  by  the  right 
relation  of  one's  whole  being  to  that  Saviour.  We 
still  believe  that  a  religion  that  thus  places  its  em- 
phasis is  the  ideal,  authoritative  religion  for  a  uni- 
versal humanity  of  whatever  age,  race  or  clime. 
Because  of  this  emphasis  it  is,  as  it  looks  to  us,  so 
fundamentally  right  as  to  be  adapted  to  the  purposes 
and  cosmopolitan  outlook  of  a  universal  religion. 
And  this  apprehension  of  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of 
God  has  proven  its  adaptability  and  its  practicability 
in  many  a  mission  station  from  the  times  of  Bar- 
tholomew Ziegenbalg  and  Henry  Plutschau  at  Tran- 
quebar,  and  Christian  Frederick  Schwartz  at  Tan- 
jore,  to  our  own  time  and  place. 

Permit  me  to  say,  also,  that  the  Lutheran  Church 
is  adapted  to  meet  its  own  share  of  responsibility 
in  world-evangelization,   because  of  the  fact  that, 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AND  EVANGELIZATION.  1 85 

SO  far  as  we  can  see,  she  has  not  been  smitten  as 
yet  with  one  of  the  most  specious  heresies  of  our 
time,  as  it  applies  to  this  work.  We  find  a  curious 
fact  in  Christian  history.  It  is  lucidly  stated  by 
Archbishop  Whately  in  his  book  entitled  "The  Cor- 
ruption of  Christianity."  "Whatever  opposed 
Christianity  at  the  outset,"  says  that  distinguished 
writer,  "afterwards  tended  to  mix  itself  up  with  it 
and  corrupt  it."  "As  religion  spread,"  he  continues, 
"and  became  less  unpopular,  and  disciples  multiplied, 
there  was  a  continuously  increasing  number  of  per- 
sons, who,  though  members  of  the  churches,  had 
never  fully  understood  the  character  of  the  gospel 
nor  imbibed  its  spirit.  And  these  introduced  into 
religion  the  same  kind  of  errors  and  wrong  prin- 
ciples as  had  originally  been  arrayed  against  it." 
The  enemy  in  front  became  the  enemy  in  the  rear. 
This  tendency  is  always  more  or  less  active,  and  as 
the  learned  Archbishop  said,  never  more  so  than 
when  religion  is  popular,  as  it  unquestionably  is  in 
wide  circles  to-day.  To  quote  again  from  Arch- 
bishop Whately,  "The  first  philosophical  cor- 
ruptors  of  Christianity,  as  is  well  known,  blended 
with  christian  doctrines  many  of  the  notions  of  the 
pagans,  the  Persians  and  the  easterners." 

But  we  are  now  being  told  by  some  christian 
teachers  that  a  new  epoch  in  missionary  work  is  at 
hand,  that  the  old  uncompromising  preaching  of 
the  gospel  is  past  and  that  we  are  to  borrow  and 


1 86  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

assimilate  and  build  on  foundations  which  we  find 
already  laid  in  the  lands  to  which  we  are  to  send 
missionaries.  The  theory  has  been  amply  elaborated 
and  confidently  and  forcibly  cried  from  numerous 
platforms  and  by  men  of  position  and  influence.  Of 
all  religions  Christianity  is  the  most  distinctively 
and  aggressively  missionary.  Its  aggressiveness 
proves  disturbing.  Some  have  come  to  doubt  its 
right  to  encroach  upon  other  systems.  They  say 
that  Hinduism  is  as  perfectly  adapted  to  meet  the 
needs  of  Hindus  as  Christianity  is  to  meet  the  needs 
of  Anglo-Saxons;  that  God  is  as  really  the  author 
of  one  set  of  adaptations  as  another;  that  there  is 
nothing  more  supernatural  in  Christianity  than  in 
Hinduism,  and  that  therefore  the  attempt  of  occi- 
dentals to  enter  Asia  to  supplant  Hindu  by  Chris- 
tian teachings  and  ideals  is  an  unwarranted  imperti- 
nence and  an  unnecessary  intrusion.  Such  pleas 
have  become  common  in  our  day  and  are  deduced 
from  what  is  alleged  to  be  the  "historical  method," 
just  now  very  popular  in  some  circles  of  liberal 
Christianity.  It  is  really  a  corollary  of  the  doctrine 
of  evolution  extremely  viewed.  It  is  contended  that 
the  world  religions  started  with  elements  of  truth, 
and  just  as  studiously  avoided  that ;  if  so,  they  now 
represent  dreadful  deteriorations  and  corruptions 
of  their  earlier  purity.  If  any  experiment  in  the 
past  has  proven  disastrous  it  is  just  this  experiment 
of  blending  and  borrowing  and  mixing  and  building 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AND  EVANGELIZATION.  1 87 

on  the  foundation  of  religions  which  have  failed  to 
save  men  and  which  are  almost  everywhere  falling 
into  decay.  This  theory  that  Brahman  priest,  Taoist 
confessor,  Mohammedan  dervish  and  African 
witch-doctor  each  has  some  contribution  of  religious 
truth  to  make  to  the  aggregate  of  the  world's  ac- 
cepted religious  teaching  is  a  religious  delusion 
and  has  served  only  to  foster  degenerate  and  degrad- 
ing civilizations. 

It  was  this  theory  of  borrowing  and  blending 
which  corrupted  early  Christianity,  which  marched 
across  the  first  centuries  of  its  history  with  heavenly 
purity  and  compelling  power,  glowing  love  and 
resistless  enthusiasm.  It  mixed  and  muddled  Chris- 
tianity, half  one  thing  and  half  another,  has  been 
unable  to  save  either  itself  or  the  pagan  from  whose 
religion  it  borrowed  what  was  affirmed  to  be  true 
and  good.  With  this  delusion  that  is  certain  to 
cut  the  nerve  of  missionary  enterprise  and  frustrate 
missionary  obedience,  the  Lutheran  Church  has  not 
yet  been  smitten.  As  a  people  we  still  believe  that 
we  are  not  primarily  called  to  Europeanize,  or  to 
Americanize,  or  to  socialize,  or  to  commercialize,  or 
to  exploit  the  non-Christian  world,  but  to  Chris- 
tianize it  with  the  one  absolute  religion,  amply 
attested  by  its  claims  and  worked-out  results.  Such 
is  the  national  pride  of  nearly  every  people,  that 
whatever  of  the  foreign  be  needlessly  mingled  with 
the  gospel  will  almost  inevitably  retard  its  progress. 


l88  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

We  still  believe,  as  a  people,  that  we  cannot  civilize 
heathen  nations  into  Christianity,  nor  educate  them 
into  Christianity,  nor  philosophize  them  into  Chris- 
tianity or  shame  them  into  an  acceptance  of  its  doc- 
trines. We  still  believe  that  neither  Chinese, 
Japanese  nor  Hindus  are  going  to  become  Christians 
just  to  keep  up  with  the  more  aggressive  occidental 
peoples.  We  still  believe  that  there  is  only  one 
way  to  bring  them  to  Christianity,  and  that  way  is 
to  convert  them  to  an  acceptance  of  its  faith  and 
God,  as  the  features  of  the  only  religion  that  offers 
salvation,  transformation  and  reconstruction.  We 
still  believe  that  it  is  useless  to  send  and  sustain 
men  to  preach  to  the  heathen  a  gospel  the  heart  of 
which  has  been  taken  out  by  an  unauthorized 
method  of  assimilation  and  which  so  far  as  salva- 
tion is  concerned,  is  no  better  than  heathen  morality. 
Recently  in  the  Hihhert  Journal  a  missionary  of 
the  theologically  advanced  order  indulged  in  some 
foolish  remarks  about  teaching  a  Fijian  to  "gabble 
over  the  Athanasian  Creed,  in  language  not  deep 
enough  to  express  its  meaning."  If  that  be  a  mis- 
sionary's notion  of  what  he  is  sent  out  to  do,  we 
cannot  wonder  that  he  should  shift  the  point  of  his 
emphasis  and  favor  a  religion  made  up  of  elements 
gathered  from  moribund  faiths  to  be  engrafted  on 
to  the  world's  one  absolute  religion  in  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  pledged  to  go  with  the  Word  as  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles. 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AND  EVANGEUZATION.  189 

Our  great  Church  still  stands  on  the  declaration 
that  there  is  only  one  foundation,  and  that  God 
made;  and  only  one  Saviour,  and  He  heaven-sent; 
and  only  one  plan  of  redemption  for  a  lost  race,  and 
that  prepared  from  all  eternity.  If  we  are  making  a 
mistake  in  sending  out  missionaries  on  this  ancient 
plan,  then  the  first  disciples  were  mistaken.  If  they 
were  right,  we  shall  certainly  be  wrong  when  we 
change  the  plan,  which  from  the  days  in  which 
they  faced  with  unflinching  courage  all  the  rage  and 
scorn  of  the  pagan  world,  until  our  day  has  been  a 
continuously  demonstrated  success  in  working  the 
world's  redemption.  But  permit  me  to  say  again, 
that  no  church  can  live  on  its  past  or  thrive  upon 
the  basis  of  the  correctness  of  its  principles.  It 
must  live  by  faith  and  duty  in  the  present.  No 
church  has  any  right  to  be  called  a  church  whose 
only  claim  is  historical.  Its  claim  to  be  a  church, 
fulfilling  the  purposes  of  a  church,  must  be  based 
upon  present  truth  and  life,  upon  love,  obedience  and 
service.  A  church  is  bound  by  its  very  definition  to 
be  a  vehicle  of  the  grace  of  God,  a  living  center  of 
evangelical  energy  and  force.  It  is  much  that 
Lutheranism  awakened  the  German  nation  from  a 
deep  night  of  spiritual  slumber,  and  that  it  enun- 
ciated and  formulated  permanent  principles  of  re- 
ligion and  civilization,  and  led  the  way  from  the 
slavery  of  the  mediaeval  papacy  to  the  freedom  of 
evangelical  truth. 


190  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

But  that  of  itself  is  not  going  to  constitute  much 
of  a  factor  of  evangelization  in  this  advancing  cen- 
tury. There  must  be  right  methods.  Fervency  and 
devotion  need  the  best  channels  through  which  to 
express  themselves.  They  are  certainly  robbed  of 
their  effectiveness  when  linked  to  an  unwise  and 
slipshod  method  of  doing  things.  But  there  must 
be  something  more  than  correct  methods  wisely 
adjusted.  Our  most  urgent  need,  no  doubt,  is  a 
larger  measure  of  the  mind  that  was  in  Jesus,  the 
Head  of  the  Church.  No  scheme  of  propagandism 
with  the  most  approved  methods  will  produce  re- 
sults that  are  permanently  satisfactory  and  adequate 
that  does  not  proceed  on  that  line.  The  Lutheran 
Church  acknowledges  it  to  be  a  sacred  duty  to  com- 
municate to  others  a  benefit  too  good  to  keep.  The 
conscience  of  the  Church  on  this  subject  needs  to 
be  educated  until  every  congregation  of  believers 
bearing  our  name  shall  regard  the  work  of  world- 
wide evangelization  as  the  supreme  duty  and 
blessedness  of  existence,  and  to  the  accomplishment 
of  which  no  amount  of  service  or  sacrifice  shall  be 
considered  too  great.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  our 
church  to  develop  and  apply  its  resources  for  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen  world,  is  implied  in  its 
acceptance  of  the  gospel  in  the  fullness  which  we 
claim  for  it. 

The  duty  binding  us  to  seek  the  salvation  of  men 
who  are  afar  off  ought  to  be  more  deeply  meditated 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AND  EVANGELIZATION.  191 

and  taken  to  heart  among  us.  Until  this  duty  rules 
the  conscience  of  the  Church  so  absolutely  that  all 
considerations  of  interest  and  ease  shall  be  put  aside, 
we  shall  certainly  abide  in  our  present  unsatisfactory 
attitude  toward  this  great  responsibility. 

Lutheranism  needs  to  learn  to  a  degree  it  has  not 
learned  hitherto  that  it  is  not  only  called  and  chosen 
to  conserve  the  truth  in  occidental  lands,  but  that  it 
also  owes  a  duty  to  China,  enslaved  and  impover- 
ished by  a  dead  and  exhausted  past;  to  India,  with 
its  awful  tyranny  of  custom  and  caste;  to  Islam, 
with  its  stern  Semitic  monotheism  and  debasing 
causality;  to  Africa  with  her  millions,  for  ages  used 
only  for  the  worst  rapacities  and  lusts  of  the  white 
man ;  that  our  people  are  debtors  to  the  poor  Indian 
fakir,  the  superstitious  Chinese  boxer,  the  gross 
South  Sea  cannibal,  and  the  barbarous  African 
savage. 

Our  people  must  be  constrained  to  believe  more  in 
the  cosmopolitanism  of  the  gospel,  that  it  is  broader 
than  any  one  land,  that  it  belongs  equally  to  all 
lands,  and  that  it  deserves  to  be  offered  at  the 
threshold  of  every  people,  in  that  ecumenical  breadth 
in  which  it  came  down  from  heaven.  Let  it  as  far 
as  possible  be  spared  the  impediment  and  reproach 
of  Nazareth  and  Rome,  that  it  be  neither  despised 
nor  feared.  We  are  to  hear  the  Macedonian  cry  out 
of  the  dark  night  of  benighted  peoples,  and  reaching 
the  bright  shore  of  Troas,  and  saying,  "Come  over 


192  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

and  help  us."  The  help  did  not  come  from  scribes 
and  Pharisees,  nor  did  it  come  from  Athens.  It 
came  from  Troas,  where  the  Lord's  apostle  stands 
with  the  divine  command  and  love  in  his  great  heart 
impelling  him  to  preach  the  gospel  everywhere  and 
at  all  times.  That  holy  conviction  and  personal  call 
to  bring  the  demanded  help  brought  him  over  to 
the  Macedonians.  It  is  when  we  get  into  the  at- 
mosphere of  such  a  missionary  devotion  that  God 
leads  us  up  to  a  shining  mount  of  vision,  from  the 
summit  of  which  human  forces  and  methods  fade 
out  of  view  and  disclose  to  us  a  magnitude  of  re- 
sourcefulness for  the  work  of  the  world's  conversion, 
compared  with  which  the  mountain  full  of  horses 
and  chariots  of  fire  which  burst  upon  the  astonished 
vision  of  the  servant  of  Elisha  is  tameness  itself. 

Never  is  a  church  so  weak  as  when  it  loses  sight 
of  the  kingdom  which  is  to  be  world-wide.  George 
Adam  Smith  has  well  said,  "The  prophetic  spirit  al- 
ways languished  when  the  nation  lost  its  sense  of 
relation  to  the  world  and  a  mission  to  mankind." 
The  church  that  cannot  comprehend  the  world  in 
its  sympathies  and  benefactions  has  but  a  feeble 
message  for  those  who  are  at  home.  We  emphasize 
the  fact  that  we  are  not  Christ's  because  we  belong 
to  the  Church,  but  we  are  of  the  Church  because 
we  belong  to  Christ,  and  the  Lord  to  whom  we  be- 
long has  never  countermanded  His  order  to  go  into 
all  the  world  and  make  disciples.    We  live  in  a  day 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AND  EVANGELIZATION.  1 93 

of  things  close  at  hand.  Not  only  is  the  world  much 
larger  than  in  apostolic  times:  it  is  also  much 
smaller.  It  is  accessible  as  never  before.  The  door 
of  almost  every  nation  is  open  and  the  means  of 
reaching  the  threshold  safe  and  quick.  All  these 
and  other  considerations  say  to  the  Lutheran  chris- 
tian :  Keep  in  touch  with  the  line  of  advance.  Ob- 
serve what  is  going  on  in  the  world  and  see  what 
the  claims  of  the  kingdom  of  God  are. 

The  bondage  of  sin  must  be  broken  and  its  lawless 
riots  brought  to  an  end.  Faith  is  greater  than  doubt 
and  love  is  stronger  than  law.  Christ  is  winning 
the  world.  He  calls  on  every  man  to  confess  Him, 
to  work  with  Him  and  reign  with  Him.  That  call, 
with  its  attendant  inspiration,  we  must  sound  out 
through  all  our  growing  Lutheran  ranks.  We 
must  insist  upon  its  being  heard  in  all  our  colleges 
and  seminaries,  in  all  our  homes,  Sunday  schools 
and  congregations.  The  work  is  vast  and  difficult, 
possibly  a  work  that  calls  for  the  labor  of  enthu- 
siasm, for  prayer  and  tears,  and,  perhaps,  for  blood- 
drops.  Contributions  of  money  are  not  enough. 
Our  very  life  must  be  in  it,  even  in  the  temper  of 
the  divine  self-sacrifice. 

Not  one  whit  more  actually  does  our  General 
Synod  represent  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
than  do  the  unevangelized  and  ungathered  multi- 
tudes of  heathendom  represent  the  call  of  Christ  to 
us.  Let  all  our  people  be  taught  that  this  great 
13 


194  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

world-wide  enterprise,  in  behalf  of  which  I  speak, 
is  an  absolute  necessity,  not  only  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  heathen,  but  also  and  much  more  for 
the  preservation  of  the  church  at  home. 

Christianity  is  a  religion  that  will  not  keep.  The 
only  thing  to  do  with  it  is  to  use  it  consistently  at 
home  and  transmit  it  to  the  regions  and  peoples 
beyond.  Its  universality  is  the  expression  and  evi- 
dence not  only  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
Sonship  of  Christ,  but  also  of  the  brotherhood  of 
man.  All  these  things,  which  as  a  people  we  pro- 
fess to  believe,  are  necessarily  involved  in  the  truth 
that  there  is  but  one  religion  fitted  and  intended  for 
every  creature.  World-wide  evangelization  accord- 
ingly is  not  an  accident  of  the  Church's  life;  it  be- 
longs to  its  essence.  As  a  part  of  the  great  Church 
of  the  Redeemer  we  Lutherans  have  no  right  to  be 
spectators  of  missions,  but  auxiliaries  in  their  prose- 
cution. 


V 


THE  BROADER  VISION  AND  ITS 
REALIZATION 


THE  BROADER  VISION  AND  ITS 
REALIZATION. 

CHARLES   W.    HEISLER^  D.D, 

Long,  long  years  agone,  in  the  land  of  the  Phar- 
aohs, an  old  man  lay  on  his  dying  couch.  And  now, 
in  the  shadow  of  death,  and  touched  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  he  has  a  vision  that  opens  up  the  vista  of  the 
centuries,  and  he  exclaims,  "The  sceptre  shall  not 
depart  from  Judah  .  .  .  until  Shiloh  come,  and 
unto  Him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be." 
The  years  come  and  go.  A  strange  people  has  come 
up  out  of  Egypt,  and  the  heart  of  the  king  of  Moab 
melts  within  him  for  fear.  In  his  extremity  he 
hires  Balaam  to  prophesy  against  them.  In  vain 
does  this  hired  prophet  endeavor  to  resist  the  im- 
pulse of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  presently  his  unwill- 
ing lips  declare :  "I  shall  see  Him  but  not  now ; 
I  shall  behold  Him  but  not  nigh;  there  shall  come 
a  star  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  sceptre  shall  rise  out  of 
Israel.  .  .  .  Out  of  Jacob  shall  come  He  that  shall 
have  dominion." 

Years  pass  by,  and  the  great  king  is  vouchsafed 
a  vision  of  the  glory  of  the  kingdom  of  his  greater 
Son  and  Lord :  "He  shall  have  dominion  from  sea 
to  sea,  and  from  the  rivers  unto  the  ends  of  the 

(197) 


198  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

earth.  .  .  .  The  kings  of  Tarshish  and  of  the  isles 
shall  bring  presents :  the  kings  of  Sheba  and  Seba 
shall  offer  gifts"  Then  down  through  the  unfold- 
ing centuries  we  come  to  the  majestic  visions  of  the 
son  of  Amoz,  who  cries,  in  view  of  the  coming 
glory:  "Arise,  shine;  for  thy  light  is  come,  and 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen  upon  thee.  .  .  .  And 
the  Gentiles  should  come  to  thy  light,  and  kings  to 
the  brightness  of  thy  rising.  ,  .  .  The  sun  shall  be 
no  more  thy  light  by  day;  neither  for  brightness 
shall  the  moon  give  light  unto  thee;  but  the  Lord 
shall  be  unto  thee  an  everlasing  light,  and  thy  God 
thy  glory." 

Other  centuries  roll  by,  and  away  over  in  Baby- 
lon, amid  the  luxuries  and  vices  of  a  heathen  court, 
the  vision  comes  again.  A  dream  troubles  the 
haughtiest  monarch  that  perhaps  the  world  had  yet 
known.  His  wise  men  failing  to  interpret  it,  a  cap- 
tive from  an  enslaved  people  is  summoned,  and  God 
anoints  his  eyes  with  the  vision  of  far-off  times,  and 
he  interprets  the  colossal  dream — image  of  the  proud 
monarch.  The  head  of  gold  may  fittingly  repre- 
sent the  luxurious  empire  of  Babylonia ;  the  breast 
and  arms  of  silver,  the  splendid  but  corrupt  empire 
of  the  Medes  and  Persians ;  the  trunk  and  thighs, 
brass,  the  brazen-mailed  Greeks;  the  legs  of  iron, 
the  all-conquering  iron-hemleted  Romans ;  the  feet 
of  iron  and  of  clay,  the  divided  world-powers  to  the 
end   of  time;  but  the   little  stone  cut  out  of  the 


THE  BROADER  VISION  AND  ITS  REALIZATION.       1 99 

mountain  symbolizes  that  world-wide  kingdom, 
which  the  God  of  heaven  shall  set  up.  "Which  shall 
never  be  destroyed,  and  it  shall  consume  all  these 
kingdoms,  and  it  shall  never  be  destroyed." 

Is  there  nothing  significant  in  all  this,  that  the 
broader  vision  had  appeared  to  the  eyes  of  the  dy- 
ing patriarch  in  Egypt,  to  the  false  prophet  on  the 
plains  of  Moab ;  to  the  pious  king  in  Jerusalem ;  to 
the  evangelical  prophet  of  Judea,  and  to  the  captive 
prince-prophet  in  Babylon?  Is  not  this  the  Old 
Testament  presentation  of  the  broader  vision  of  the 
world-empire  of  the  promised  Messiah? 

But  we  move  forward  now  a  half  dozen  centuries 
to  the  temple  courts  in  Jerusalem.  A  young  rabbi 
of  Galilee  is  there  teaching.  His  fame  had  attracted 
many  to  His  side.  But  a  great  crisis  had  come  on 
this  last  day  of  public  teaching.  In  the  midst  of  it 
certain  Greeks — Hellenes,  not  Hellenists — came  to 
one  of  His  followers  with  the  thrilling  request,  "Sir, 
we  would  see  Jesus."  The  Master  is  told,  and  be- 
comes greatly  agitated.  "The  hour  is  come,"  He 
exclaims,  "that  the  Son  of  man  should  be  glorified! 
.  .  .  Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground 
and  die  it  abideth  alone;  but  if  it  die  it  bringeth 
forth  much  fruit.  .  .  .  Now  is  my  soul  troubled! 
Father,  save  me  from  this  hour!  .  .  .  Now  shall 
the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out!  .  .  .  And  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me  I"      And  there  the  Son  of  man  had  His 


200  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

broader  vision.  But  the  hated  cross  is  now  a  thing 
of  the  past;  and  the  sealed  tomb  and  the  glory  of 
the  resurrection  morning.  The  risen  Lord  stands 
with  His  chosen  ones  on  Olivet's  slope.  The 
doomed  city  lies  below  them  in  the  sunlight  of 
that  memorable  May  morning.  An  indefinable  awe 
enwraps  the  souls  of  the  disciples.  In  low  tones  the 
Master  speaks,  reaffirming  the  words  of  the  great 
commission,  "Ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  wit- 
nesses unto  Me,  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  Judea, 
and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth."  The  words  had  scarcely  died  away  ere 
the  opening  heavens  received  our  divine-human  Re- 
deemer. But  that  message  of  a  world-wide  gospel 
and  of  a  world-empire  burned  itself  into  the  souls 
of  those  humble  followers  of  the  Nazarene. 

Years  afterwards,  one  of  His  most  devoted  serv- 
ants, the  lion-hearted  apostle  to  the  gentiles,  came 
in  his  journeys  to  Troas,  on  the  extreme  western 
edge  of  Asia. 

Below  its  rocky  promontory  rolled  the  restless 
waters  of  the  ^gean.  Beyond  those  waves  rose 
the  faint  purple  hills  of  Europe.  I  can  fancy  how, 
day  after  day,  he  would  look  with  longing  eyes 
towards  that  continent  untouched  as  yet  with  the  feet 
of  apostolic  heralds.  And  then  came  his  broader 
vision  and  the  call  of  Macedonia,  and  the  call  of 
Greece,   and   of   Italy,    and   of   Spain,   and   of   all 


THE  BROADER  VISION  AND  ITS  REALIZATION.       20I 

Europe;  and  he  dreamed  of  the  day  when  the  em- 
pire of  his  Lord  should  far  transcend  the  hmits  of 
the  proud  empire  of  the  Caesar. 

Still  other  years  pass  by;  when  a  lonely  man 
whose  head  a  hundred  years  have  whitened,  has  his 
vision  on  the  rocky  sea-girt  isle  of  Patmos.  He 
sees  the  innumerable  throng,  encompassing  "the 
Lamb,  as  it  had  been  slain,"  and  he  hears  the  new 
song  of  the  living  creatures :  "Thou  art  worthy  to 
take  the  book  and  to  open  the  seals  thereof;  for 
Thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by 
Thy  blood  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people  and  nation,  and  hast  made  us  unto  our  God 
kings  and  priests,  and  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth." 
And  thus  the  broader  vision  of  the  New  Testament 
is  essentially  identical  with  that  of  the  Old.  From 
Genesis  to  Revelation  great  souls,  under  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Spirit  of  God,  had  caught  it. 

And  this  is  true,  also,  of  Christian  history  since 
apostolic  days.  All  great  and  commanding  souls 
in  the  Church,  during  the  Christian  centuries,  con- 
fessors, martyrs,  missionaries,  have  caught  it,  and 
their  hearts  have  thrilled  at  the  thought  of  the  con- 
quest of  the  world  by  their  Lord  Christ.  It  was 
this  that  sent  devoted  men,  in  the  early  days,  among 
the  barbarian  hordes  of  Germany,  among  the  pagan 
dwellers  of  Scandinavia  and  the  British  Isles. 

And  modern  missionaries,  under  the  same  inspira- 
tion of  the  vision  of  a  world-empire  for  Christ,  have 


202  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

gone  down  into  the  dark  pit  of  India ;  have  plunged 
into  the  jungles  of  darker  Africa;  have  lifted  the 
banner  of  the  cross  among  the  teeming  millions  of 
China;  and  have  braved  the  hostility  of  South  Sea 
Island  Cannibals.  Seeing  this  vision,  a  Francis 
Xavier  exclaims  again  and  again  even  in  his  sleep, 
"Yet  more,  O  my  Christ,  yet  more  and  more" ;  and 
a  Schwartz  can,  with  singular  and  beautiful  de- 
votion, gather  the  first  fruits  of  India  for  Christ;  a 
Livingstone  can  endure  toils  and  trials  indescrib- 
able in  his  noble  efforts  to  help  heal  that  open  sore 
of  the  world;  a  Martyn  can  calmly  lie  down  to  die 
alone  on  the  sands  of  Asia  Minor.  A  Carey  can  go 
with  quenchless  enthusiasm  into  the  darkness  of 
India,  "expecting  great  things  of  God,  and  under- 
taking great  things  for  God" ;  and  a  Heyer  and  a 
Day  and  a  Rowe  and  thousands  of  others,  in  these 
latter  days,  can  sacrifice  home  and  friends,  and  life 
itself,  if  they  may  but  help  to  the  realization  of  this 
broader  vision. 

I.  This  broader  vision  is  a  vision  of  the  world's 
sin  and  the  world's  need.  The  whole  race  is  lost 
and  needs  redemption.  Men  have  all  gone  astray 
from  God,  and  there  is  none  righteous.  The  same 
black  pall  of  human  sin  and  misery  and  spiritual 
helplessness  and  hopelessness  lies  on  men  every- 
where, white,  black,  yellow,  red ;  in  Asia  and  Africa 
as  in  America,  in  the  South  Sea  Islands  as  in  Europe. 
And    everywhere    men    are    mutely   stretching   out 


THE  BROADER  VISION  AND  ITS  REALIZATION.       2O3 

their  hands  after  God,  "if  haply  they  may  find  Him." 
No  one,  studying  this  broader  vision,  can  for  a  mo- 
ment deny  that  all  heathen  need  redemption,  or  con- 
tend that  the  heathen  may  better  be  left  to  their  own 
religions. 

2.  It  is  a  vision  of  a  world's  Saviour,  able  and 
willing  to  bring  every  human  being  into  fellowship 
with  God  and  eternal  life.  The  Jew  thought  of 
salvation  only  for  the  Jew.  His  Messiah  was  for 
the  Hebrew  alone.  Of  a  world-Saviour,  or  of  a 
world-wide  salvation  he  had  no  conception,  and  lit- 
tle concern,  except  as  the  Gentile  might  become  a 
Jew,  despite  the  broader  vision  of  his  prophetic  seers. 
This  vision  denies  the  present-day  assumption  of  a 
Saviour  for  the  Anglo-Saxon  alone. 

3.  It  is  a  vision  of  one  all-embracing  world- 
power,  the  universal  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  God. 
The  Messianic  kingdom  cannot  be  confined  within 
the  narrow  limits  of  Solomon's  dominions.  It  is 
to  fill  the  earth.  Now  and  then  conquerors  have 
dreamed  of  a  universal  empire.  The  dream  is  to  be 
realized  in  the  empire  of  the  God-^Ian.  Unto  Shiloh 
shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be.  The  sceptre  of 
Israel  is  to  bear  sway  over  all  the  earth.  David's 
greater  Son  is  to  sit  on  an  everlasting  throne,  and 
to  rule  in  a  world-wide  dominion.  The  little  stone 
out  of  the  mountain  is  to  fill  the  earth,  and  destroy 
all  earthly  kingdoms.  The  uplifted  Christ,  from  His 
cross,  as  a  throne  of  glory,  is  to  draw  all  men  unto 


204  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

Himself.  The  empire  of  the  glorified  Christ  is  to 
include  peoples  of  every  tongue  and  kindred,  the 
wide  world  over.  "The  splendid  imagery  of  the 
apocalypse  will  find  fulfillment — the  nations  shall 
walk  in  the  midst  of  the  light  of  the  holy  city." — ■ 
(Westcott). 

Christ  is  to  be  the  Lifter-up,  the  Redeemer,  the 
Sovereign  Lord  of  all  peoples,  everywhere.  Thus 
the  broader  vision  gives  assurance  of  a  gospel  as 
intended  for  all,  and  of  the  certainty  of  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  the  glorious  kingdom  of  the  God-Man. 

The  realization  of  this  vision  next  claims  atten- 
tion. What  is  essential  to  its  realization?  What  is 
our  relation  to  it?  These  two  questions  must  be 
answered  together. 

I.  First  of  all,  we  must  personally  catch  the 
vision  for  ourselves.  That  is,  each  and  every  one 
of  us  individually,  and  all  of  us  collectively,  as 
a  Church,  must  come  to  feel  the  full  significance  of 
this  vision.  We  must  realize  the  imperialness  of 
the  kingdom  of  our  Christ.  We  must  come  to  feel 
that  nothing  short  of  a  world-empire  can  or  will 
satisfy  our  Lord.  "He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of 
His  soul  and  be  satisfied."  In  minor  sense,  the  Son 
of  God  is  satisfied  when  any  single  soul  turns  unto 
Him  as  the  fruit  of  His  passion.  But  how  dare  we 
say  He  will  be  fully  satisfied  until  He  is  the  univer- 
sal Saviour?  We  must  stand  under  the  dripping 
cross  of  calvary  and  list  to  these  words  until  they 


THE  BROADER  VISION  AND  ITS  REALIZATION.       2O5 

burn  themselves  into  our  souls — "God  so  loved  the 
ivorld" ; — "If  I  be  lifted  up  I  will  draw  all  men  unto 
me."  We  need  to  pray  God  to  open  our  eyes  fully 
to  see  the  vision. 

2.  Secondly,  we  must  recognize  overpoweringly 
the  fact  that  this  broader  vision  is  not  yet  realized. 
Rejoicing  in  the  enlargement  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  Christ,  we  are  in  danger  of  assuming  too  much. 
We  are  in  peril  of  drawing  our  circle  from  too  small 
an  arc.  We  are  too  much  disposed  to  measure  the 
great  world  according  to  the  narrow  confines  of  our 
own  little  valley.  Our  Lord  has  seen  abundant 
fruits  of  His  passion,  but  the  end  is  not  yet.  The 
gospel  has  permeated  human  society  and  influenced 
modern  civilization  marvelously,  and  yet  not  ab- 
solutely, justifying  the  remark  of  an  intelligent 
Japanese,  "If  you  people  of  the  west  were  only  as 
good  as  your  Book,  we  would  all  speedily  accept 
your  religion."  Thank  God  for  the  multitudes  of 
loyal  disciples  of  the  Christ;  yet  even  in  Christian 
lands  other  multitudes  will  not  have  this  Man 
Christ  Jesus  to  reign  over  them. 

We  may  glory  in  the  results  of  modern  mission- 
ary enterprise — over  6000  ordained  missionaries 
now  in  the  foreign  field;  in  addition,  over  12,000 
unordained  workers,  and  82,000  native  ordained 
and  unordained  helpers;  with  a  million  and  a  half 
Christian  communicants  in  foreign  native  churches. 
But  after  all,  what  are  they  among  so  many  ?  What 


2o6  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

are  a  few  scores  of  thousands  of  native  Christians 
in  India  to  its  two  hundred  and  fifty  milHons  of 
people ;  or  in  China  to  its  four  hundred  and  fifty  mill- 
ions? What  are  a  million  and  a  half  of  Christians 
among  a  thousand  millions  of  heathen  ?  Thank  God 
there  are  so  many;  and  yet  may  He  forgive  us  for 
our  share  in  the  responsibility  that  there  are  so  few ! 
We  may  jubilate  over  the  fact  that  all  lands  are 
open  to  the  gospel;  yes,  but  millions  on  millions 
therein  have  never  heard  of  the  Saviour.  It  is  not 
enough  that  some  missionary  has  spoken  the  word 
of  life  in  all  lands;  or  even  that  from  among  all 
peoples  a  small  remnant  has  been  gathered  unto 
the  Lord.  Vastly  more  than  that  is  required  in  ful- 
filling our  Lord's  command.  With  less  than  two 
hundred  million  Protestant  Church  members  out  of 
a  billion  and  a  half  of  the  world's  peoples,  not  yet, 
not  yet  is  the  vision  realized.  Not  yet  can  we  feel 
that  the  Lord  is  satisfied  with  the  travail  of  His  soul. 
3.  Again,  it  is  essential  to  our  part  in  the  realiza- 
tion of  this  broader  vision  that  we  personally,  and 
as  a  church,  get  next  to  our  Lord  Himself.  That  is 
homely  phrasing,  but  I  scarcely  know  how  better  to 
express,  in  a  word,  my  thought.  Take  your  stand 
close  to  His  bleeding  side,  and  what  will  that  mean? 
First,  that  we  shall  come  to  feel  something  of  His 
vast  love  for  lost  souls  everywhere.  Reverently  we 
may  say  it,  He  had  a  holy  passion  for  saving  the 
lost.     And  so  must  we  have.     We  shall  never  rise 


THE  BROADER  VISION  AND  ITS  REALIZATION.       207 

to  our  responsibility  and  privilege  in  this  matter  un- 
til we  do  have  it.  And  the  closer  we  come  to  Him  in 
heart  and  life  the  more  we  shall  have  of  it. 

Secondly,  we  must  come  to  share  His  sense  of 
personal  responsibility  for  the  salvation  of  men — 
of  men  on  far-off  shores  as  well  as  in  our  own  land. 
Such  a  sense  of  responsibility  the  apostle  had  when 
he  cried.  "I  am  debtor  both  to  the  Jews  and  to 
the  Greeks." 

Thirdly,  we  must  catch  His  spirit  of  self-devotion 
for  the  salvation  of  men.  "For  their  sakes  I  sanc- 
tify myself,"  He  cried ;  and  so  must  we.  He  came 
to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  others ;  and  in  a  sense 
we  must  do  no  less.  This  spirit  of  devotion  must 
include  self,  talents,  possessions,  everything.  And 
out  of  all  this  must  come  the  spirit  of  prompt, 
cheerful,  loyal,  absolute  obedience  to  our  Lord's 
every  command.  "Go  ye,"  and  we  must  go.  "Ye 
shall  be  my  witnesses,"  and  we  must  witness  for 
Him  everywhere. 

4.  And  last  of  all,  it  is  essential  to  the  realiza- 
tion of  this  broader  vision  that  we  plan  and  labor 
for  larger  things  in  the  extension  of  His  kingdom. 
We  must  rise  to  the  imperialism  of  Christ's  scheme. 
We  must  get  out  of  our  narrowness  and  pettiness 
of  conception  and  execution  in  the  things  of  the 
kingdom.  We  Lutherans  are  too  prone  to  think  of 
the  kingdom  as  comprising  our  own  fold.  Our 
mission  is  too  much,  in  our  thought,  a  mission  to 


208  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

Lutherans.  We  fail  to  realize  our  responsibility  to 
the  non-churched  and  non-Christian  masses  every- 
where. Someone  has  said  that  with  respect  to  For- 
eign Missions  the  Lutheran  Church  is  a  sleeping 
giant.  That  is  a  severe  indictment,  but  is  it  not 
true?  And  if  true,  shall  not  this  sleeping  giant 
awake  and  heed  the  voice  of  the  Lord  ?  We  are  too 
easily  satisfied  with  small  undertakings.  We  jubi- 
late too  easily  over  petty  achievements.  We  con- 
gratulate ourselves  too  readily  over  small  plans  and 
meagre  returns.  We  have  been  but  playing  at  For- 
eign Missions.  Our  men  of  wealth  have  not  yet 
gotten  their  eyes  open.  They  have  not  yet  caught 
the  broader  vision.  We  have  not  learned  to  give 
in  princely  sums.  We  have  not  learned  to  pray  in 
apostolic  terms.  We  have  not  learned  to  plan  on 
the  lines  of  a  world-empire  for  our  Christ.  We 
have  not  caught  the  conception  of  Foreign  Missions 
as  "a  primary  work  of  the  Church."  We  have  not 
risen  to  an  imperial  policy  for  Foreign  Missions. 
Larger  praying,  larger  faith,  larger  planning,  larger 
expecting,  larger  giving  and  larger  efforts — let 
these  be  our  watchwords  in  realizing  the  vision  of 
the  world-empire  of  the  God-Man. 


VI 

MISSIONS  AND  CIVILIZATION 


MISSIONS  AND  CIVILIZATION. 

L.  S.  KEYSER^  D.D. 

The  gospel  is  not  meant  to  prepare  men  for  the 
next  world  only.  "Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all 
things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that  nozv  is,  and 
also  of  that  which  is  to  come."  Christianity  has  an 
ante-mortem  purpose  as  well  as  a  post-mortem  salva- 
tion. It  is  not  merely  a  system  of  sky-pilotage. 
Salvation  begins  in  this  life,  and  perdures  without 
cleavage  through  death.  "He  that  hath  the  Son  of 
God  hath  life.''    The  gospel  of  the  present  tense! 

Therefore,  wherever  Christian  evangelism  is  car- 
ried, it  aims  to  do  more  than  to  get  people  ready 
to  die  and  make  a  safe  transit  to  the  realms  above. 
It  aims  to  transform  lives  here  and  now;  to  make 
good  people,  good  citizens,  good  communities,  en- 
nobled states  and  nations — in  short  and  in  fine,  a 
true  civilization.  A  religion  that  would  prepare 
men  to  die  and  not  to  live;  that  would  get  them 
ready  for  heaven  and  leave  them  useless  for  earth, 
would  be  defective  and  puerile.  On  the  other  hand, 
a  religion  that  infuses  and  unfolds  the  kingdom 
of  God  on  earth,  and  then  says,  "To  be  continued 
throughout  eternity."  is  all-sphered  and  all-inclu- 
sive.    That  is  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.     "Thy 

(211) 


212  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven." 

A  potent  religion  will  produce  a  life,  and  the 
molding  of  the  individual  life  will  produce  a  com- 
munity and  national  life.  The  religion  of  Christ 
is  a  spirit,  an  inner  principle,  which,  like  a  seed, 
germinates,  grows  and  develops,  producing  a  life 
that  is  all  its  own.  In  the  creation  story  of  Genesis, 
it  is  said,  "Every  tree  and  herb  bearing  seed  after 
its  kind."  The  scientific  doctrine  of  the  persistency 
of  type!  The  divine  principle  of  the  gospel  is  a 
fertilized  seed  of  life  and  civilization,  and  it  pro- 
duces after  its  kind. 

The  gospel  in  its  fullness  of  power  touches  all  de- 
partments of  life,  just  as  the  sap  of  a  tree  permeates 
the  trunk,  branches,  twigs,  foliage,  flowers  and 
fruit.  It  is  practical  and  all-pervasive.  Christianity 
is  ramifying  with  transfiguring  grace  into  all  the 
details  of  our  mundane  existence;  into  individual 
heart  life  first,  then  into  home,  social,  commercial 
and  civic  life.  There  is  nothing  too  common  for  it 
to  touch  and  transmute.  Just  as  the  garments,  per- 
haps of  very  common  material  and  texture,  that 
Christ  wore  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  were 
rendered  white  and  glistering  like  His  divine  coun- 
tenance, so  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  irradiates  the 
humdrums  and  commonplaces  of  life,  making  the 
lowliest  duty  meaningful  and  beautiful,  chastening 
it  of  its  dross  and  uplifting  it  with  a  sacred  pur- 


MISSIONS   AND   CIVII.IZATION.  213 

pose.  Whatever  parts  of  life  cannot  receive  and 
appropriate  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion 
are  wrong  in  and  of  themselves,  and  should  be  de- 
stroyed ;  and  this  negative  work  is  also  a  part  of  the 
mission  of  the  gospel;  for  the  gospel  is  destructive 
as  well  as  constructive,  a  consuming  fire  as  well  as 
a  spirit  of  life.  Therefore  it  both  excises  the  evil 
and  implants  the  good.  Thus  the  gospel  must  fos- 
ter the  best,  the  noblest,  the  solidest  type  of  civiliza- 
tion. "Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is 
a  reproach  to  any  people." 

Again,  the  gospel  is  no  scheme  of  mere  socialism. 
It  does  not  aim  to  regenerate  humanity  in  the  mass. 
No;  it  has  proper  regard  for  the  individual,  recog- 
nizing the  personality  that  marks  off  every  man,  and 
makes  him  something  sui  generis.  Therefore  the 
gospel  way  of  regenerating  and  remodeling  society 
is  to  regenerate  and  remodel  the  individual.  Make 
the  units  of  a  mass  right,  and  you  will  make  the  mass 
right ;  especially  so  when  the  units  are  self-conscious 
human  personalities  dowered  with  free  moral  agency. 
There  is,  truly  enough,  an  esprit  de  corps,  a  spirit 
of  society ;  but  it  is  not  something  extra-individual ; 
it  is  the  corporate  spirit  of  all  the  individuals  in 
their  mutual  relations.  A  corporate  spirit  is  just 
what  the  individuals  composing  the  body  make  it. 
Why,  even  material  substance  is  made  up  of  units 
called  atoms.    The  gospel,  therefore,  aims  to  recon- 


214  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

struct  the  social  community  by  making  its  personal- 
ities good  and  true. 

Now,  missionary  work  is  simply  carrying  this 
evangel  to  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The  Church 
is  ever  doing  mission  work,  either  inner  or  outer,  or 
both.  Therefore  missions  and  civilization  are  in- 
separably bound  together.  Missionary  work  cannot 
help  producing  its  own  type  of  enlightenment. 

But  does  Mission  establishment  really  bring  about 
a  better  civilization,  or  is  all  that  has  been  said 
about  the  transforming  power  of  the  gospel  upon 
individual,  social  and  civic  life  only  an  "iridescent 
dream"?  Is  the  Christian  religion  practical?  This 
question  can  be  answered  only  by  the  citation  of 
concrete  cases.  In  the  history  of  the  world  it  is 
found  that,  wherever  the  Bible  is  an  open  book  and 
its  principles  have  the  freest  course,  there  appears 
the  highest  form  of  civilization;  there  the  arts  and 
sciences  and  ethics  attain  their  loftiest  achievements. 
Surely  this  cannot  be  a  mere  coincidence,  for  the 
reason  that  the  Bible  makes  direct  appeal  to  life  and 
character,  weaving  itself  into  all  their  minutiae.  It 
is  not  something  away  off  in  the  wilderness  or  away 
up  in  the  air.  It  touches  the  life  of  the  child,  the 
youth,  the  man,  the  woman,  the  worker,  the  business 
man,  the  professional  man,  the  citizen,  and  it  says, 
"Do  your  duty  in  all  relations  of  life,  and  I  will  give 
you  grace  sufficient  for  your  work."  This  being  so, 
it  must  be  a  traceable  matter  of  cause  and  effect  that 


MISSIONS   AND    CIVIUZATION.  21 5 

the  foremost  nations  of  the  earth  are  those  that  have 
given  the  word  of  God  the  most  unrestrained  course 
in  molding  their  hfe  and  temper. 

Look,  too,  at  the  heathen  nations  of  the  earth. 
While  we  see  in  them  varying  degrees  of  civilization, 
yet  all  of  them,  just  so  far  as  they  are  heathen,  fall 
far  below  the  standards  of  life  in  America,  England 
and  Germany,  as  well  as  in  general  progress  and 
ethical  attainments.  Perhaps  India  is  the  plainest 
example.  Look  at  its  blighting  caste  system,  its 
polygamy,  its  system  of  child  widows,  its  lack  of 
merciful  institutions,  its  want  of  progress  in  art, 
science,  machinery,  and  other  improvements,  and 
its  low  ethical  ideals  in  every  stratum  of  social  life; 
and  you  will  see  the  difference  between  a  Christian 
civilization  and  a  pagan.  Wherever  the  gospel 
touches  Hindu  life  and  institutions,  there  progress 
begins  to  operate  like  a  leaven  of  blessing.  Institu- 
tiors  of  mercy  open  up,  schools  and  colleges  become 
the  vogue,  and  by  degrees  the  evils  of  the  Buddhistic 
sysiem  give  way  to  the  enlightened  life  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

Many  of  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  afford  striking 
instances  of  the  civilizing  influence  of  the  religion 
of  Christ.  One-half  to  three-quarters  of  a  century 
agD  those  island  communities  were  sunken  in  a  de- 
based and  cruel  barbarism,  many  of  them  given  to 
feasting  on  human  flesh.  Their  experience  in  many 
cases  was  as  follows:    First,  the  vicious  and  avari- 


2l6  FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  ' 

cious  traders  from  Europe,  who,  though  they  came 
from  Christian  lands,  knew  no  code  of  Christian 
kindness  or  ethics,  discovered  the  islands,  deceived 
the  natives,  often  slaughtered  them  in  the  most  in- 
human way;  at  other  times  invited  them  on  board 
their  ships,  then  forcibly  carried  them  off  and  sold 
them  into  slavery.  In  this  way  they  excited  the  re- 
vengeful spirit  of  the  barbarians,  so  that  they 
wreaked  their  spite  on  all  white  visitors,  whether 
good  or  bad;  so  that  often  the  missionaries,  who 
went  to  the  heathen  people  with  only  beneficent  in- 
tentions, had  to  suffer  untold  horrors  on  account  of 
those  unprincipled  adventurers  who  had  betrayed 
the  natives.  In  many  cases  it  required  years  before 
the  heralds  of  the  cross  could  win  the  confidence 
of  the  pagans,  who  looked  upon  all  white  men  as 
alike  in  character.  By  and  by,  however,  love  and 
kindness  gained  the  victory,  the  heathen  were  con- 
verted, and,  behold,  a  transformed  community  where 
civilization  took  the  place  of  the  previous  barbarism. 
Schools  and  churches  have  sprung  up ;  villages  have 
been  built;  and  morality  prevails  where  once  lust 
and  cruelty  were  the  ruling  forces. 

Men  who  are  to-day  shipwrecked  on  an  island  in 
the  Pacific  quake  with  fear  of  cannibals  until  they 
see  a  church  spire  pointing  to  the  sky,  when  their 
solicitude  is  at  once  allayed  and  they  are  sure  of 
Christian  treatment. 

Thus,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Christianity 


MISSIONS   AND   CIVILIZATION.  217 

exercises  a  benign  influence  wherever  it  truly 
touches  human  Hfe.  Says  a  recent  writer  on  the 
influence  of  missions :  "A  little  over  a  hundred 
years  ago,  Captain  Cook,  who  found  a  motive  to 
take  him  into  many  parts  of  the  world,  wrote:  *It 
is  very  unlikely  that  any  measure  of  this  kind  (that 
is,  missionary  effort)  should  ever  be  seriously 
thought  of,  as  it  can  neither  serv^e  the  purpose  of 
public  ambition  nor  private  avarice,  and  without 
such  inducements  I  may  pronounce  that  it  will 
never  be  undertaken.'  How  utterly  his  prediction 
has  failed  the  history  of  missions  shows.  The 
transformations  in  character  and  social  condition 
which  have  taken  place  are  proof  of  the  operation 
of  a  power  to  inspire  effort  and  change  life  which 
many  men  who  are  wise  in  their  day  and  generation 
may  not  fully  appreciate.  But  men  who  are  wise  in 
their  own  conceits  must  necessarily  be  void  of  that 
faith  which  would  enable  them  to  form  a  true  es- 
timate of  the  transforming  power  of  Christianity, 
and  they  only  stumble  in  the  dark  whenever  they 
undertake  to  exalt  their  own  opinions  above  the 
great  I  AM." 

It  was  a  notable  tribute  which  the  Chinese  Minis- 
ter to  this  country,  Dr.  Wu  Ting  Fang,  paid  to 
Christianity  at  a  meeting  held  in  New  York  some- 
time ago  in  the  interest  of  Foreign  Missions.  He 
said  in  part: 

"Any   church    or   mission,    any   corporation,    or, 


2l8  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

in  fact,  any  body  of  people,  whatever  their  denomi- 
nation or  creed,  who  are  doing  good  work,  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind,  especially  for  my  countrymen, 
will  receive  my  sympathy  and  my  help,  if  it  is  pos- 
sible for  me  to  give  it.  Those  who  come  from  for- 
eign lands  to  this  country  as  students  naturally  find 
themselves  in  environment  of  the  highest  order. 
The  loneliness  of  those  in  humbler  walks  of  life — the 
merchant,  the  laborer,  the  servant — is  indescribable. 
These  classes  are  dependent  wholly  on  the  churches 
and  missions  to  furnish  good  surroundings. 
Churches  and  schools  keep  them  from  bad  and  bane- 
ful influences.  I  am  glad  to  find  the  Christian  peo- 
ple helping  my  countrymen,  teaching  them  to  be- 
have themselves,  to  practice  virtue  and  to  be  good 
citizens.  We  thank  you  for  your  work  in  behalf  of 
our  countrymen  in  this  land.  And  we  do  not  object 
to  Christian  missionaries  coming  to  China,  for  we 
know  they  come  to  teach  our  people  to  he  good 
and  to  do  good." 

Mr.  Winston  Churchill  tells  his  readers,  in  his 
late  book,  "My  African  Journey,"  that  Uganda 
was  the  only  country  he  ever  visited  where  every 
person  of  suitable  age  to  go  to  church  went  to  Chris- 
tian worship  every  Sunday  morning.  He  estimates 
the  native  Christians  in  Uganda  at  100,000.  Bishop 
Tucker,  of  that  missionary  diocese,  puts  down 
62,867  as  the  number  of  baptized  Christians  in  the 
Anglican  churches  of  Uganda,  and  the  average  Sun- 


MISSIONS   AND   CIVILIZATION.  219 

day  morning  attendance  is  52,471.  The  church 
buildings  of  the  kingdom  of  Uganda  have  seats  for 
125,851.  There  are  2936  native  Christian  teachers 
and  evangehsts.  And  Mr.  Churchill,  who  explored 
Central  Africa  last  year,  says  that  he  never  saw 
better  order  or  happier  homes  than  in  this  central 
region  of  the  great  Dark  Continent,  where  only  a 
few  years  ago  pioneer  missionaries  were  mercilessly 
put  to  death  by  the  natives. 

Those  who  know  most  about  the  influence  of 
Christian  missions  are  most  given  to  praise  of 
them.  It  is  usually  those  who  have  never  been  near 
a  mission  field,  or,  if  they  have  visited  one,  have 
given  it  very  hasty  and  superficial  attention,  who 
are  the  cavillers  and  w^ould-be  critics.  Recently  two 
great  civilians  of  our  country  have  uttered  opinions 
most  favorable  to  Foreign  Missions.  These  men 
are  not  ministers,  nor  are  they  missionaries  in  the 
technical  sense  of  the  term,  but  are  statesmen  who 
can  have  only  disinterested  motives  in  their  ad- 
vocacy. 

One  of  them  is  Hon.  William  Jennings  Biyan, 
who  kept  his  eyes  open  in  his  late  tour  of  the  world. 
In  many  places  he  inquired  into  the  effect  of  Chris- 
tian missions,  and  has  become  an  earnest  champion 
of  them.  Perhaps  he  has  not  so  deep  an  interest  in 
the  eternal  salvation  of  the  heathen  as  you  and  I 
have,  but  he  is  impressed  with  the  civilizing  influ- 
ence of  gospel  extension,  and  is  convinced  of  its 


220  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

Utility  and  power.  His  words,  therefore,  come  to 
us  fraught  with  unusual  value.  We  feel  that  his 
conviction  must  be  sincere. 

The  other  advocate  of  Foreign  Missions  is  no 
less  a  personage  than  President  Taft  himself,  who 
is  also  a  circumnavigator  of  the  globe.  He  spoke 
into  a  phonograph  some  weeks  ago,  and  it  is  rather 
remarkable  that,  of  all  the  themes  he  might  have 
chosen,  he  elected  to  pay  a  tribute  to  Foreign  Mis- 
sions.   This  is  what  he  said : 

"I  have  known  a  good  many  people  who  were 
opposed  to  Foreign  Missions.  I  have  known  a  good 
many  regular  attendants  at  church — consistent 
members — v/ho  religiously,  if  you  choose  to  use  that 
term,  refused  to  contribute  to  Foreign  Missions.  I 
confess  that  there  was  a  time  when  I  was  enjoying 
a  smug  provincialism,  that  I  hope  has  left  me  now, 
when  I  rather  sympathized  with  that  view.  Until  I 
went  to  the  orient,  until  there  was  thrust  upon  me 
the  responsibilities  with  reference  to  the  extension 
of  civilization  in  those  far  distant  lands,  I  did  not 
realize  the  immense  importance  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions. The  truth  is,  we  have  got  to  wake  up  in  this 
country.  We  are  not  all  there  is  in  the  world.  There 
are  lots  besides  us,  and  there  are  lots  of  people 
besides  us  that  are  entitled  to  our  effort  and  our 
money  and  our  sacrifice  to  help  them  on  in  the 
world.  No  man  can  study  the  movement  of  modern 
civilization  from  an  impartial  standpoint  and  not 


MISSIONS   AND   CIVILIZATION.  221 

realize  that  Christianity  and  the  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity are  the  only  basis  for  hope  of  modern  civil- 
ization in  the  growth  of  popular  self-government. 
The  spirit  of  Christianity  is  pure  democracy.  It 
is  the  equality  of  man  before  God — the  equality  of 
man  before  the  law,  which  is,  as  I  understand  it, 
the  most  God-like  manifestation  that  man  has  been 
able  to  make." 

This  is  also  the  opinion  held  by  the  late  Colonel 
Denby,  who  was  for  twelve  years  our  United  States 
Minister  to  China,  who  severely  criticised  those  who 
found  fault  with  the  practical  workings  of  the  mis- 
sionaries in  the  far  east,  and  said  that  they  were 
the  hope,  and  would  be  the  salvation,  of  the  people 
of  the  orient. 

Where  men  of  such  calibre  and  such  opportu- 
nities for  observation  utter  words  of  praise,  it  is 
idle  for  others  to  cavil.  From  the  viewpoint  of  the 
humanitarian,  the  philanthropist  and  the  statesman, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  religionist,  we  should  lend  our 
influence  to  missionary  extension.  The  man  who 
opposes  missions  is  not  only  morally  and  spiritually 
blind;  he  is  behind  the  times;  he  does  not  under- 
stand the  spirit  of  his  age.  A  babbler  and  a  prater 
he,  but  not  a  philosopher. 

It  may  be  said  that  we  have  many  evils  in  Chris- 
tian countries.  We  have.  Then  why  does  not  the 
gospel  rinse  them  out,  if  it  possesses  so  great  and 
renovating  a  power?     Cannot  the  charge  of  moral 


222  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

inability,  at  least,  be  brought  against  the  Christian 
scheme  of  civilization  ?  We  reply,  no.  Christianity 
is  a  moral  power,  but  not  a  coercive  power.  Indeed, 
if  it  forced  people  to  be  good  and  civil,  it  would  no 
longer  be  a  moral  influence;  for  there  can  be  no 
moral  suasion  where  there  is  coercion. 

Hence,  Christianity  does  not  compel  the  heathen 
to  be  Christians,  whether  they  live  in  Christian  or 
pagan  lands.  Happen  it  will,  therefore,  that  there 
are  often  bad  specimens  of  human  degeneration 
right  under  the  shadow  of  our  Christian  churches. 
Religion  is  not  a  system  of  police  regulation ;  it  is 
a  spirit  of  persuasive  power.  It  has  been  said  by 
infidel  critics  that  sometimes  the  same  ships  that 
have  carried  missionaries  to  the  heathen  have  also 
carried  rum  to  degrade  them.  True,  no  doubt.  But 
who  sent  the  missionaries?  The  Christian  churches. 
Who  sent  the  rum?  The  liquor  dealers  who  cared 
neither  for  the  church  at  home  nor  for  the  heathen 
abroad. 

Therefore  there  is  always  room  for  inner  mis- 
sions as  well  as  outer  evangelization.  The  gospel 
must  not  be  blamed  for  the  obliquities  of  those  who 
reject  it.  You  would  not  blame  the  laws  of  hygiene 
for  the  ruined  health  of  the  man  who  disregards 
them,  would  you?  So  don't  lay  the  sins  of  rejecters 
at  the  door  of  the  saving  scheme  that  they  repudiate. 
By  degrees  the  gospel  leaven  will  permeate  the  body 
social  and  the  body  civic,  until  the  whole  lump  will 


MISSIONS   AND   CIVILIZATION.  223 

be  transformed,  and  every  community  will  show 
forth  the  moral  power  of  the  inner  principle.  The 
eye  of  faith  already  catches  glimpses  of  the  world 
under  the  Messiah's  sway,  all  the  rude  and  crude 
material  refined  into  the  pure  gold  of  a  true  civiliza- 
tion which  will  shine  like  the  sun  in  the  firmament. 


VII 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  HOME 
CHURCH 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  HOME 
CHURCH  IN  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

W.   H.  DUNBAR^  D.D. 

The  subject  assigned  me  opens  in  so  many  differ- 
ent directions  that  for  once  in  my  hfe  I  find  myself 
involved  in  an  embarrassment  of  riches.  My  time 
is  too  brief  to  take  a  single  moment  in  a  discriminat- 
ing statement  of  the  various  trains  of  thought  it 
suggests. 

Practically,  I  presume  the  subject  would  resolve 
itself  into  this :  "The  best  methods  to  be  employed 
in  working  up  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions  in  our 
home  churches."  But  the  study  of  methods  leads 
into  a  barren  wilderness.  We  had  just  as  well  rec- 
ognize the  fact  at  once  that  methods  have  no  vitality, 
and  therefore  cannot  in  themselves  tend  to  develop- 
ment. We  can  kill  a  cause  with  methods.  Back 
of  methods  must  be  vital  principles.  The  cause  is 
greater  than  your  methods  or  mine  to  develop  that 
cause. 

Two  great  principles  at  once  occur  to  us  as  we 
take  up  this  subject :  The  one  is  what  we  may  call 
the  centripetal  power  of  Foreign  Missions — the 
power  which  works  from  without  to  the  center — the 
power  in  Foreign  Mission  zeal  which  reacts  on  the 
(227) 


228  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

Church  to  vitalize  it  and  quicken  it.  We  say :  "Let 
a  church  be  interested  in  Foreign  Missions  and  it 
will  make  it  a  live  church."  This  is  a  principle 
which  has  been  much  emphasized.  And  yet  we  feel 
that  it  is,  after  all,  more  of  an  incident  than  a  prin- 
ciple. It  is  to  do  good  that  we  may  get  good.  It 
is  not  the  strongest  possible  appeal  to  the  Christian 
spirit.  The  other  is  what  we  may  call  the  centrif- 
ugal power  of  Foreign  Missions — the  power  which 
works  from  within  outward — the  inherent  power  of 
a  true  church  which  compels  an  active,  world-wide 
interest  in  the  salvation  of  a  fallen  race.  To  put 
it  tersely  it  may  be  stated  thus :  ''Develop  the  home 
church  properly  and  Foreign  Missions  will  be  taken 
care  of."  Develop  the  home  church  properly  and  it 
will  develop  the  home  church  in  Foreign  Missions. 
This  morning  you  had  the  subject,  "The 
Broader  Vision  and  its  Realization."  That  subject 
contains  the  keynote  to  the  solution  of  the  problem 
of  my  subject.  The  scope  of  the  redemptive  work 
of  Christ  is  as  broad  as  the  race.  The  vision  of 
christian  faith  is  world-wide.  The  only  proper  de- 
velopment of  the  christian  church — of  any  one 
church  or  of  all  churches — is  in  the  realization  of 
this  world-wide  vision.  The  church  whose  faith 
is  measured  and  limited  by  its  own  narrow  confines 
is  not  properly  developed.  Christian  men  and  Chris- 
tian women,  christian  ministers  and  christian  lay- 
men, must  catch  the  larger  vision  of  christian  faith. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  HOME  CHURCH.   229 

Break  the  bonds  of  limitation  of  narrow  interests, 
crush  out  the  spirit  of  selfish  enjoyment  of  privileges, 
fill  a  church  with  the  realization  of  God's  purpose 
of  world-wide  redemption,  and  of  our  Lord's  mis- 
sion of  atonement  for  the  sin  of  the  race — then  only 
will  a  congregation  be  a  properly  developed  chris- 
tian church.  "It  is  so  natural  to  be  narrow ;  such 
a  work  of  grace  to  have  breadth  of  sympathy.  We 
are  continually  slipping  into  contracted  notions,  and 
making  religion  a  comfortable  nest  in  our  parish, 
our  synod,  our  church."  That  is  not  the  true 
christian  spirit.  "To  settle  down  each  into  a  snug 
little  Zion  of  his  own,"  that  is  not  the  Christian 
spirit.  "The  world,  the  world — not  myself,  not  my 
church,  but  the  great,  crowded,  suffering,  perishing 
world — it  was  for  this  Christ  died." 

In  my  boyhood  days,  the  near-by  mountains  lim- 
ited the  world  to  me.  The  little  village  of  five  hun- 
dred people  was  the  center  of  all  things.  My  proud- 
est hopes  did  not  go  beyond.  As  time  went  on,  I 
learned  of  a  larger  world ;  seven  miles  away  was  a 
considerable  town  of  probably  five  thousand  people. 
I  remember  how  as  I  first  beheld  the  life  of  that 
town,  I  felt  the  pulse  of  a  larger  life  from  the  fact 
that  this  was  a  larger  world  than  I  thought.  Then 
came  a  day  when  I  saw  the  great  teeming  town  of 
twenty  thousand  people,  some  twenty  miles  away — 
and  I  began  to  realize  that  I  could  not  measure  the 
real  development  of  my  life  in  the  smaller  circle  of 


230  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

my  boyhood's  enthusiasms.  Then  came  a  day  when 
there  opened  to  me  a  yet  larger  world  in  the  rush 
and  bustle  of  the  life  of  a  great  city,  and  I  felt 
how  narrow  my  life  would  have  been  in  the  little 
world  of  my  boyhood.  So  the  day  came  when  I 
was  permitted  to  get  the  larger  vision  of  other  lands, 
of  people  speaking  other  tongues,  and  then  I  knew 
that  no  life  could  be  complete  until  its  vision  was 
as  wide  as  the  race. 

Only  in  a  very  mechanical  way  does  this  set  forth 
what  is  true  of  the  Church. 

Away  back  on  the  plains  of  church  history  stands 
one  who  has  come  to  be  known  by  Jew  and  Chris- 
tian as  "The  father  of  the  faithful."  The  centuries 
have  come  and  gone  since  "Abram  by  divine  com- 
mand left  his  own  tent  to  talk  with  God."  But  the 
words  spoken  in  that  far-away  day  pulsate  with 
life  now  as  then:  'T  will  bless  thee."  Wonder- 
ful words  to  that  lonely  man!  "I  will  bless  thee." 
How?  "Thy  seed  shall  be  as  the  stars.  I  will  make 
of  thee  a  great  nation.  I  will  bless  thee."  Why? 
"Thou  shalt  be  a  blessing.  In  thee  shall  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  Leave  that  out 
and  Abram's  blessing  passes  with  the  voice  that 
announced  it,  and  with  the  fading  glory  of  his  race. 
"I  will  bless  thee,"  that  "thou  mayest  be  a  blessing," 
that  "in  thee  all  the  families  of  the  earth  may  be 
blessed." 

Time  passes  with  the  slow  movement  of  the  years. 


THE  DEVEI.OPMENT  OF  THE  HOME  CHURCH.   23 1 

Abraham's  seed  has  become  a  great  multitude. 
They  throng  the  hills  and  valleys  of  that  distant 
world,  a  mighty  host.  The  tokens  of  divine  favor 
are  everywhere  manifest.  They  are  adopted  as 
God's  own  people.  Led  by  a  mighty  hand,  they  con- 
quer cities,  become  the  possessors  of  the  fairest  land 
on  the  then  known  globe.  But  ever,  through  the 
vision  of  inspired  prophets  and  seers  and  priests,  is 
revealed  in  all  God's  favors  to  them  a  world-wide 
purpose.  "The  nations  that  sat  in  darkness  have 
seen  a  great  Hght;  unto  them  it  has  shined."  At 
last  that  chosen  race  forgot  that  world-wide  pur- 
pose, forgot  the  divine  mandate,  "In  thee  shall  all 
the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed,"  drew  down 
about  them  the  thick  curtains  of  exclusiveness,  and 
ceased  to  be  God's  own  peculiar  people. 

The  centuries  roll  away.  The  "fullness  of  time" 
comes  on  apace.  The  Messiah  appears.  He  lives 
and  dies,  rises  and  ascends.  The  Holy  Spirit  comes. 
The  christian  church  is  born. 

We  pause  a  moment  amid  the  events  of  those  first 
days.  There,  if  anywhere,  we  may  learn  something 
of  the  character  of  the  Church,  and  the  divine  pur- 
pose in  its  institution.  It  affords  a  timely  study. 
Men  theorize  about  religious  things.  All  kinds  of 
theories  are  being  advanced,  about  the  Church,  about 
methods  of  saving  men,  about  the  world's  evangeli- 
zation, even  about  God.     We  are  talking  methods 


232  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

and  machinery  until  we  are  becoming  mechanical  in 
all  our  work. 

What  happened  in  that  early  church?  First 
came  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost.  It 
was  a  Spirit-endowed  church.  They  were  Spirit- 
filled  men.  Then  came  Peter's  great  sermon.  It 
was  a  sermon  inspired  by  the  Spirit.  It  was  a  clear 
proclamation  of  Christ — not  a  Christ  who  is  the 
creation  of  human  thought,  not  a  theoretical  or  poet- 
ical Christ — but  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man  living 
a  wonderful  life  among  men,  delivered  to  death  by 
the  determinate  counsel  of  God,  risen  again  from 
the  dead.  We  do  not  hear  much  of  methods,  of 
plans,  of  duties.  They  were  too  near  the  cross  of 
Calvary  for  any  vague  theorizing  and  methodizing. 

What  came  of  it?  As  naturally  as  vegetation  re- 
sults from  the  spring  rains  and  the  warm  sunshine, 
came  the  new  life  to  the  Church.  That  life  mani- 
fested itself  in  two  ways : 

I.  First  came  a  mighty  work  of  grace.  Thou- 
sands were  converted  and  added  to  the  Church. 
There  is  the  answer  to  one  problem  that  is  troubling 
the  Church — how  to  win  men?  How  to  reach  the 
masses?  We  have  tried  to  answer  it  in  our  own 
way.  We  make  great  preparations  for  revival  work, 
and  at  last  it  is  a  mere  mechanical  thing  and  no  last- 
ing permanent  results.  Let  us  get  near  the  cross; 
let  us  open  our  hearts  for  the  Pentecostal  fire ;  let  us 
preach  Christ  with  tongues  on  fire,  and  now  as  then 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  HOME  CHURCH.   233 

hearts  will  be  pricked  and  men  will  begin  to  inquire, 
"Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do?" 

2.  Then  followed  the  other  manifestation  of 
this  new  life.  Christ  had  given  the  marching  order 
to  His  followers  in  His  last  great  commission.  But 
even  the  apostles  could  not  obey  that  order  until 
the  new  life  came.  When  that  came  they  could  do 
nothing  else  than  obey  it.  Like  a  living  seed  cast 
into  the  ground  it  spread  into  a  world-wide  move- 
ment. Peter  gave  first  expression  to  it.  "Of  a 
truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons." 
It  appears  that  was  a  new  discovery  to  Peter.  He 
had  an  idea  that  God  thought  much  more  of  some 
people  than  of  others.  He  had  been  trained  to  that. 
Some  of  us  have  not  gotten  beyond  it.  The  first 
vision  Peter  had  of  a  universal  salvation  was  when 
the  Holy  Spirit  entered  his  life.  "But  in  every  na- 
tion he  that  feareth  God,  and  worketh  righteousness, 
is  accepted  with  Him."  Then  burst  from  his  lips 
that  great  vital  doctrine:  "To  Him  give  all  the 
prophets  witness,  that  through  His  name  whoso- 
ever believeth  in  Him  shall  receive  remission  of 
sins."  How  that  spreads  out !  It  touches  the  outer 
edges  of  the  race.  It  reaches  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth.  "Whosoever!"  Under  that  great  an- 
nouncement of  pardon  are  included  all  races  and 
peoples,  the  red  man  and  the  black  man,  the  yellow 
man  and  the  brown  man,  as  well  as  the  white  man. 
"Whosoever!"      The   heavenly   city   will   be   more 


234  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

cosmopolitan  than  any  city  of  earth  has  ever  been. 
Men  of  every  nation  will  be  there,  pardoned  and 
redeemed  by  the  grace  of  God.  "They  shall  come 
from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  from  the  north  and 
the  south,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham  and 
Isaac  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  God."  So  was 
born  the  great  missionary  life  of  the  church,  which 
has  guided  the  course  of  the  Church  ever  since. 
And  it  was  brought  about,  not  by  any  great  mission- 
ary mass  meeting,  nor  yet  by  a  great  missionary  ad- 
dress, for  the  simple  reason  that  the  proclamation 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  the  greatest  missionary 
address  that  can  be  made,  and  for  the  simple  reason 
that  a  people  who  have  felt  the  power  of  the  cross 
are  bound  to  be  filled  with  the  missionary  spirit. 

Here,  then,  is  first  of  all  the  answer  to  the  great 
missionary  problem  of  the  Church.  How  shall  we 
develop  the  home  churches  in  Foreign  Missions? 
By  developing  it  on  gospel  lines.  The  Church  has 
the  great  commission  laid  upon  it.  It  is  a  dead 
thing  so  long  as  the  Church  is  dead.  Set  the  Church 
on  fire  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  gather  its  people  around 
the  cross,  proclaim  in  clear  tones  the  great  gospel 
of  a  universal  salvation,  make  the  Church  throb 
and  glow  and  pulsate  with  the  Spirit's  power,  and 
the  problem  of  Foreign  Missions  will  be  solved. 

We  must  make  the  Church  feel  that  the  "whoso- 
ever" of  the  gospel  message  of  pardon  must  be  car- 
ried into  king's  palace,  into  the  rich  man's  mansion, 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  HOME  CHURCH.   235 

into  the  peasant's  hut,  into  the  criminal's  cell,  into 
the  filthy  places  of  the  slums.  We  must  make  the 
Church  realize  that  the  "whosoever"  of  the  gospel 
must  be  carried  to  Africa  and  India  and  China  and 
Japan  and  to  the  islands  of  the  sea,  for  it  means  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  There  is  a  sickly  senti- 
mentalism  which  has  caught  the  hearts  of  many  that 
one  religion  suits  one  race  or  one  part  of  the  earth, 
and  another  another  part.  It  is  a  proposition  to 
which  we  cannot  assent  for  a  moment.  That  is  to 
surrender  the  first  great  fundamental  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity, that  there  is  one  God,  and  He  is  the  God 
of  all  nations.  That  is  to  repudiate  the  very  an- 
nouncement of  inspired  apostles  and  of  Christ  Him- 
self that  "there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven 
given  among  men  whereby  they  must  be  saved." 
That  is  to  let  go  Christianity  itself.  There  is  not 
one  way  to  heaven  for  the  rich  sinner  and  another 
for  the  poor  sinner.  There  is  not  one  way  to  heaven 
for  the  sinners  of  America  and  Europe,  and  another 
for  the  sinners  of  Africa  and  India  and  China  and 
Japan  and  the  islands  of  the  sea.  Let  us  lay  on  the 
home  church  the  burden  of  a  lost  race ;  let  us  make 
it  hear  the  cry  of  universal  humanity. 


VIII 

THE  APOLOGETIC  VALUE  OF  FOREIGN 
MISSIONS 


THE   APOLOGETIC   VALUE   OF   FOREIGN 
MISSIONS. 

H.  C.  ALLEMAN^  D.D. 

The  Christian  faith  has  had  to  justify  itself  in 
different  ages  in  different  ways:  to  the  early  cen- 
turies, by  the  evidence  of  its  response  to  the  hopes 
and  intimations  of  Jewish  Scriptures,  and  by  the 
joy  and  constancy  in  suffering  which  it  was  able  to 
create ;  to  the  days  of  the  decline  and  fall  of  the 
Roman  empire  and  of  the  new  national  beginnings 
in  Europe,  by  its  power  to  curb  and  to  civilize;  to 
the  later  centuries,  by  its  abstract  moral  and  relig- 
ious value.  In  all  ages,  however,  Christianity  has 
been  justified  of  her  children. 

The  argument  for  the  Christian  faith  from  its 
achievements  forms  one  of  the  most  thrilling  chap- 
ters of  apologetics.  Christianity  has  vanquished 
pagan  creeds,  civilized  barbarian  tribes,  vindicated 
human  rights,  regenerated  heathen  lands.  It  came 
to  communities  cultured  in  letters,  instructed  in 
arts,  mighty  in  arms,  but  morally  rotten  with  luxury 
and  lust,  and  by  its  worship,  its  humanity,  its  mes- 
sage of  hope,  its  life  of  purity,  struck  down  the  de- 
lusions and  deceptions  of  the  dissolute  capitals  of  the 
world,  and,  though  it  encountered  tremendous  re- 

(239) 


240  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

sistance — of  law,  argument,  invective  and  persecu- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  society  it  rebuked — it  over- 
came opposition  and  won  to  its  humble  standard 
the  noblest  souls  of  the  decaying  empire  and  over- 
turned the  altars  of  its  paganism.  If  it  did  not  con- 
vert the  Roman  empire  as  such,  it  won  a  supreme 
place  in  its  thought ;  infused  its  spirit  into  the  habits, 
pursuits  and  customs  of  the  population ;  exercised  a 
restraining  influence  on  the  leaders;  increased  its 
converts  until  they  were  conspicuous  in  all  vocations 
and  were  prominent  in  the  army  and  the  civil  serv- 
ice of  the  empire;  closed  the  temples  and  forever 
discredited  the  gods  of  paganism,  expelling  them 
from  any  influence  henceforth  in  the  affairs  of 
men. 

Christianity  also  civilized  barbarian  tribes.  It  is 
the  admission  of  no  less  an  authority  than  Gibbon 
that  "the  progress  of  Christianity  has  been  marked 
by  two  glorious  and  decisive  victories,  one  over  the 
learned  and  luxurious  civilization  of  the  Roman 
empire,  the  other  over  the  warlike  barbarians  of 
Scythia  and  Germany."  Into  the  dark  forests  of 
the  north  it  went,  and  across  the  channel  to  the 
British  Isles,  meeting  their  savage  peoples  with  a 
spirit  which  defied  cruelty  and  everywhere  won  ad- 
miration and  confidence.  It  became  the  civilizer  of 
their  barbarism,  the  teacher  of  their  ignorance  and 
the  refiner  of  their  grossness.  "The  science  of  lan- 
guage," says  Max  Miiller,  "owes  more  than  its  first 


THE  APOLOGETIC  VALUE  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  241 

impulse  to  Christianity.  Its  pioneers  were  those 
very  apostles  who  were  commanded  to  go  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
Christianity  has  practically  given  to  Europe  its 
varied  and  copious  languages,  fashioning  improved 
vehicles  of  thought  and  bringing  into  existence  its 
civilization  and  culture.  In  the  words  of  Mr.  W. 
E.  H.  Lecky,  "The  great  characteristic  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  great  moral  proof  of  its  divinity, 
is  that  it  has  been  the  main  source  of  the  material 
development  of  Europe,  and  that  it  has  discharged 
this  office  alone  by  the  assimilating  and  attractive 
influence  of  a  perfect  ideal."  And  it  was  the  testi- 
mony of  Lord  Alacaulay  that  "To  discountenance 
this  religion  which  has  done  so  much  to  promote 
justice  and  mercy  and  freedom  and  arts  and  sciences 
and  good  government  and  domestic  happiness  is 
to  commit  high  treason  against  humanity  and  civil- 
ization." 

It  is  one  of  the  achievements  of  Christianity  that 
it  has  vindicated  human  rights.  Lamartine  says : 
"Christianity,  finding  men  in  serfage  and  degraded 
all  over  the  earth,  had  arisen  in  the  fall  of  the  Ro- 
man empire,  like  a  mighty  vengeance,  though  under 
the  aspect  of  resignation.  It  had  proclaimed  the 
three  words,  which  two  thousand  years  afterward 
were  reached  by  French  philosophy — liberty,  equal- 
ity, fraternity — among  mankind."  Christianity 
taught  that  God  was  no  respecter  of  persons;  it 
16 


242  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

recognized  the  dignity  of  labor;  it  ameliorated  the 
condition  of  the  slave,  and  introduced  the  leavening 
principle  which  has  burst  his  fetters;  it  redeemed 
woman  from  her  degradation  and  made  her  a  fel- 
low-laborer in  the  gospel ;  it  exalted  and  put  its  seal 
of  sacredness  on  childhood.  From  the  days  of 
Augustine  to  our  own,  the  history  of  Christianity 
has  been  the  history  of  the  progress  of  human  lib- 
erty. 

As  for  the  regenerating  power  of  Christianity, 
the  national  and  social  life  of  Christendom,  what- 
ever blemishes  and  sorrowful  defects  we  may  find 
in  it,  is  a  standing  evidence  of  the  elevating  influ- 
ence of  Christian  principles.  The  witnesses  simply 
cannot  be  heard,  in  the  limitations  of  this  discussion, 
who  are  ready  to  testify  to  this  fact.  Not  to  men- 
tion the  continents  of  Europe  and  America  and  the 
bright  spots  in  Asia  and  Africa,  group  after  group 
of  savage  islands  has  been  transformed  and  re- 
deemed, and  new  men  and  women  have  sprung  out 
of  a  horrid  environment  of  licentiousness  and 
bestiality.  If  there  were  no  other  chapter  of  gospel 
triumph  in  the  history  of  Christendom,  this  alone 
would  be  sufficient  to  demonstrate  the  power  of 
Christianity  to  regenerate  society. 

"It  is  hardly  possible  to  overstate  the  importance 
of  the  new  power  thus  brought  into  the  moral  life 
of  the  world.  Science  forbids  us  to  believe  it  pos- 
sible to  add  any  new   force  to  the  sum  total  of 


THE  APOLOGETIC  VALUE  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  243 

physical  forces  already  at  work  in  the  universe. 
But  it  would  seem  as  if  we  certainly  came  upon  the 
fact  here,  that  with  Christianity  there  was  added  to 
the  sum  total  of  energies  in  action  in  human  history 
a  new  increment  of  ethical  force.  ...  It  may  be 
difficult  to  follow  through  their  details  the  results 
which  have  been  thus  secured,  because  they  are 
realized  in  character  and  in  individuals,  in  spheres 
of  life  where  record  is  unusual,  and  by  forces  that 
are  silent  and  unobserved  in  action.  But  publicans 
and  sinners  transformed  into  saints  of  Christian 
history  are  by  no  means  confined  to  gospel  days." 
— George  Burton  Adams. 

And  when  we  ask  the  question,  what  is  the 
secret  of  Christianity's  expansion,  the  agent  of  its 
propagation?  there  is  but  one  answer — the  mis- 
sionary witness  of  the  Church.  "We  cannot  hesitate 
to  believe,"  says  Harnack,  "that  the  great  mission  of 
Christianity  was  in  reality  accomplished  by  means 
of  informal  missionaries."  Justin  says,  what  won 
him  was  the  moral  life  he  found  among  Christians 
in  general.  Not  in  the  first  instance  by  the  strength 
of  its  intellect,  not  by  argument  and  disputation, 
not  by  force  of  arms  or  material  power,  but  by  the 
silent  testimony  of  a  life  in  harmony  with  its  great 
symbol,  the  cross  of  sacrifice.  It  leavened  the  whole 
lump  of  imperial  paganism.  Then  as  now  the  chief 
evidence  of  Christianity  was  not  the  evidence,  but 
the  Christian. 


244  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

The  apologetic  value  of  missions  has  always  been 
apparent  when  measured  against  the  background 
of  the  age-spirit  against  which  the  missionaries 
pressed  their  cause.  Of  Augustine  and  his  fellow- 
missionaries  among  the  wild  Anglo-Saxons  the 
venerable  Bede  writes :  "They  soon  began  to  make 
some  converts,  who  were  drawn  to  them  by  the 
admiration  they  felt  for  the  holy  innocence  of  their 
lives  and  the  sweetness  of  the  heavenly  doctrine  that 
they  taught."  Similar  testimony  runs  all  through 
the  centuries,  and  the  witness  has  never  been  so 
bright  and  shining  as  at  the  present  day.  There  can 
be  no  question  but  that  the  world-spirit  of  this  age 
is  commercialism.  As  one  has  said,  "Mammon  is 
our  god  and  the  hustler  is  his  prophet."  The 
military  state  of  old  has  given  place  to  the  mercan- 
tile. The  necessities  of  trade  have  become  the  bind- 
ing law  of  the  nations.  "Apart  from  tips,  commis- 
sions and  bribery  at  home,"  says  Principal  For- 
syth, "think  of  the  opium  trade  in  India  and  China, 
the  rum  trade  in  Africa,  the  'blackbirding'  in 
Queensland.  What  of  the  Congo  Company  and 
its  ways  in  Central  Africa?  What  of  the  Char- 
tered Company  in  South  Africa,  of  the  raid, 
with  its  progeny  of  blood,  ruin  and  grief  in  a 
great  war?  .  .  .  What  of  the  Turk  who  must  be 
allowed  to  massacre  and  outrage  Armenian  and 
Macedonian  because  of  the  commercial  convenience 
and  balance  of   Europe?  .  .  .  May   God   send   us 


THE  APOLOGETIC  VALUE  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.    245 

prophets  to  save  the  kingdom  from  the  calamity  in 
prosperity  and  the  usurpation  by  finance!" 

He  Jias  sent  the  prophets.  They  are  the  ten  thou- 
sand missionaries  of  the  twentieth  century — the  un- 
equivocal witnesses  of  the  cross  of  Christ  in  a  self- 
seeking  age.  The  missionaries  die  daily  as  other 
men  do  not.  They  minister  at  the  world-altar  of 
Jesus  Christ.  They  are  priests  of  a  sacrificial 
church.  "There  is  nothing  finer  nor  more  pathetic 
in  our  life,"  exclaims  Principal  Forsyth,  "than  the 
way  in  which  missionaries  unlearn  the  love  of  the 
old  home,  die  to  their  native  land  and  wed  their 
hearts  to  the  people  they  had  served  and  won;  so 
that  they  cannot  rest  in  England,  but  must  return 
to  lay  their  bones  where  they  spent  their  hearts  for 
Christ.  How  vulgar  the  common  patriotisms  seem 
beside  this  inverted  homesickness,  this  passion  of  a 
kingdom  which  has  no  frontiers  and  no  favored 
races !" 

We  do  not  grasp  the  central  truth  of  Christ's  gos- 
pel if  we  are  surprised  or  shocked  by  such  devotion; 
we  are  incapable  of  comprehending  the  chief  apolo- 
getic of  the  Christian  religion.  What  are  our  pit- 
tance of  money,  our  doles  of  charity,  our  fits  of 
sympathy,  our  tithing  of  mint,  anise  and  cummin, 
beside  the  long,  lonely  devotion  of  this  "far-flung 
battle  line"  of  the  Church  militant?  James  Chal- 
mers, of  New  Guinea,  whom  Robert  Louis  Steven- 
son calls  "one  of  the  pioneers  of  civilization  and 


246  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

love,"  and  ranks  among  the  "heroic  bearers  of  the 
cross  of  Hght  and  progress,"  who  was  finally  clubbed 
to  death  and  eaten  by  cannibals,  in  a  speech  in 
Exeter  Hall  fifteen  years  before  his  martyrdom, 
exclaimed  :  "Recall  the  twenty-one  years ;  give  me 
back  all  its  experience ;  give  me  its  shipwrecks ;  give 
me  its  standing  in  the  face  of  death ;  give  it  me  sur- 
rounded with  savages  with  spears  and  clubs;  give 
it  me  back  with  spears  flying  about  me,  with  the 
club  knocking  me  to  the  ground — give  it  me  back, 
and  I  will  still  be  your  missionary."  If  such  men 
do  not  interpret  and  vindicate  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  us,  then  the  prince  of  this  world  is  not 
judged  in  us,  then  we  are  yet  in  our  sins,  then  God 
has  given  us  up  to  a  reprobate  mind.  At  least  they 
have  interpreted  the  Christ  to  the  nations  who  knew 
Him  not,  at  least  they  are  the  fire-pillars  of  the  dark 
continents,  and  it  may  yet  be  that  by  their  lonely 
graves  we  shall  learn  the  rudiments  of  the  Christian 
faith. 


IX 

MISSIONARY  HEROES— THE  HOLY  GRAIL 


MISSIONARY  HEROES— THE  HOLY  GRAIL. 

REV.   J.   T.    HUDDLE. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  of  our  Christian  tradi- 
tions is  that  of  the  Holy  Grail.  According  to  the 
mythology  of  the  romancers,  the  San  Greal  was  the 
cup  from  which  our  Lord  drank  at  the  last  Supper, 
and  which  afterwards  received  His  blood  at  the 
cross.  In  some  way  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Joseph 
of  Arimathea,  in  whose  tomb  the  Saviour  was  laid, 
and  b}^  him  was  carried  over  into  Europe,  and 
thence,  Sir  Thomas  Malory  tells  us,  it  was  taken  to 
England,  and  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach  says  it  was 
taken  to  Spain.  In  each  case  it  was  placed  in  a 
sanctuary  under  special  guardianship,  and  if  a  man 
could  touch  or  see  it  he  was  healed  at  once  by 
faith  of  all  his  wounds.  It  was  incumbent  upon 
those  who  had  charge  of  this  sacred  relic  to  be 
chaste  in  thought,  word  and  deed. 

The  tradition  of  the  Holy  Grail  has  been  a 
favorite  theme  of  artist,  musician  and  poet  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic.  In  Richard  Wagner's  "Par- 
sifal," music  and  drama  conspire  to  present  the 
power  of  the  marvelous  influence  symbolized  by 
the  cup. 

(249) 


250  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

Tennyson  was  fascinated  with  the  tender  beauty 
of  this  legend  and  gave  it  prominent  place  in  his 
"Idylls  of  the  King."  He  shows  how  Arthur  in- 
spired his  men  with  a  burning  desire  for  purity  of 
character  rather  than  for  pelf  or  power;  how  the 
one  all-absorbing  pursuit  of  his  knights  was  the 
search  for  the  Holy  Grail,  and  with  exquisite  touch 
paints  the  scene  in  which  the  vision  was  granted  to 
Galahad,  the  knight  of  the  pure  heart  and  stainless 
shield. 

Again,  in  Lowell's  "Vision  of  Sir  Launfal," 
we  have  another  presentation  of  this  theme,  more 
in  accord  with  the  practical  ideas  of  our  western 
life.  The  poet  pictures  Sir  Launfal  on  his  pranc- 
ing charger  leaving  his  castle  in  unscarred  mail  to 
seek  in  all  climes  for  the  Holy  Grail.  His  heart  is 
filled  with  loathing  as  he  passes  a  leper  beg- 
ging outside  the  gate,  to  whom  he  tosses  a  coin  in 
scorn  as  he  rides  proudly  on.  This  the  leper  does 
not  deign  to  touch,  but  simply  said : 

"He    gives    nothing    but    worthless    gold 
Who  gives  from  a  sense  of  duty." 

Through  many  lands,  for  many  years,  Sir  Launfal 
wandered  in  his  quest  for  the  sacred  cup,  but  all  in 
vain.  At  last,  old,  gray  and  poor,  he  turned  his 
face  homeward,  a  sad,  but  wiser  and  better  man. 
It  was  Christmas  time  when  he  arrived  at  the  gate. 
Another  heir  sat   in  his  earldom.     Strange   faces 


MISSIONARY    HEROES — THE    HOLY   GRAIL.       25 1 

surrounded  the  fireside,  illumined  with  the  yule 
log's  blaze.  The  seneschal  harshly  drove  the  knight 
away  from  his  own  porch.  In  the  gateway  where 
the  leper  begged  of  old  he  sat  all  night  in  raiment 
thin  and  spare,  and  as  he  sat  he  mused  of  a  sunnier 
clime.  In  the  midst  of  his  musings  the  leper  again 
appeared,  cowering  beside  him,  asking  for  alms. 
The  sentimental  dreams  of  youth  fly  away  as  he 
looks  into  the  eyes  of  the  beggar  and  says,  "I  behold 
in  thee  an  image  of  Him  who  died  on  the  tree. 
And  sadly  remembering  in  what  haughtier  guise 
he  had  flung  an  alms  to  leprosy: 

"He  parted  in  twain  his  single  crust, 
He  broke  the  ice  on  the  streamlet's  brink 
And  gave  the  leper  to  eat  and  drink." 

And  then,  as  the  old  knight  sat  himself  down  again 
in  the  snow  by  the  gate,  a  strange  light  shone  round 
the  place  and  the  leper  no  longer  sat  by  his  side, 
but  stood  before  him  glorified. 

Sir  Launfal  found  the  Holy  Grail  beside  his  gate 
in  a  wooden  bowl  which  he  kindly  held  to  a  beg- 
gar's lips. 

Here  we  have  two  golden  keys  to  the  Holy  of 
Holies  where  reposes  in  mystic  splendor  this  sacred 
cup.  In  Tennyson  the  indispensable  condition  to 
success  in  this  soul  quest  is  heart  purity.  In  Lowell 
it  is  heart  charity.  These  two  conceptions  reflect 
respectively   the    spirit   of   the   mediaeval   and   the 


252  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

modern  world.  In  the  former  we  have  the  ruHng 
idea  of  the  monk  and  the  crusader  and  the  pilgrim ; 
in  the  latter  that  of  the  educator,  the  philanthropist 
and  the  missionary.  In  the  one  we  find  man  grop- 
ing through  darkness  in  search  of  God,  in  the  other 
crawling  through  jungle  and  wilderness  in  search 
of  man.  In  the  past  man's  eyes  were  turned  up- 
ward in  sentimental  quest  while  he  trampled 
thoughtlessly  upon  a  brother's  rights.  To-day  his 
eyes  are  fastened  seriously  and  practically  upon 
human  need  while  his  feet  are  on  mercy's  errands 
bent  and  his  hands  lift  up  the  faint. 

Which  one  is  right,  then,  in  his  interpretation, 
the  bard  of  England  or  the  bard  of  New  England? 
Tennyson  or  Lowell?  Evidently  both,  for  while 
the  pure  in  heart  shall  see,  those  that  do  the  will 
shall  know.  To  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows 
and  to  keep  unspotted  from  the  world  are  the  two 
fundamentals  of  religion  pure  and  undefiled.  The 
character  of  neither  of  the  sisters  of  Bethany  is 
complete  in  itself.  Martha  will  do  better  service 
if  she  will  only  take  the  place  of  Mary  for  a  season. 
And  Mary's  contemplation  is  real  and  worth  while 
only  in  so  far  as  it  finds  expression  in  unselfish 
ministry. 

Getting  right  with  God  doesn't  amount  to  much 
if  it  simply  results  in  sentimental  selfishness. 

In  Richard  Wagner's  "Parsifal,"  however,  it 
seems  to  me  we  have  an  interpretation  that  unites 


MISSIONARY   HEROES — THE    HOLY   GRAIL.       253 

these  two  elements  of  personal  purity  and  active 
charity.  Following  Eschenbach's  conception  the 
scene  is  laid  in  the  mountains  of  Spain.  Kundry 
is  the  wickedness  of  the  world.  Amfortas,  with 
open  wound,  is  suffering  humanity.  The  guileless 
knight  is  purity,  to  whose  eyes  is  granted  a  vision 
of  the  Grail.  After  this  revelation  with  his  sacred 
spear  he  touches  humanity's  wound  and  Amfortas, 
healed,  renews  his  strength  as  he  drinks  from  the 
blessed  cup.  Here  we  have,  it  seems  to  me,  a  type 
of  him  who  through  purity  and  prayer  has  found 
the  cup  and  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  in  one 
hand  and  the  chalice  of  helpfulness  in  the  other  is 
going  into  all  the  world  ministering  to  the  physical 
and  spiritual  needs  of  men.  No  longer  actuated 
by  blind  sentiment,  but  spurred  on  by  intelligent 
sympathy,  the  missionary  becomes  the  cup-bearer 
of  humanity,  the  good  Samaritan  among  the  na- 
tions. 

We  are  gathered  here  in  this  assembly  to  do 
honor  to  this  up-to-date  knight  of  the  Grail,  who, 
devoid  of  the  selfishness  of  his  mediaeval  brotfier, 
endowed  with  the  practical,  common  sense  of  his 
age,  and  inspired  with  the  spirit  of  optimism  and 
fraternal  affection,  is  not  wasting  time  in  ecstatic 
dream  or  sentimental  quest,  but  energetically  doing 
things  for  the  betterment  of  his  brethren. 

However  bright  his  armor,  proud  his  charger, 
strong   his   spear,    sentimental    Galahad   sinks   into 


254  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

insignificance  when  compared  with  this  wide-awake 
modern  knight  with  his  raw-boned  horse,  weather- 
beaten  saddle  bags  and  seedy  clothes,  traversing  the 
wilderness,  making  it  blossom  with  school-houses 
and  churches  and  homes  and  Christian  citizenship. 
In  the  inner  life  of  this  unselfish  character  the  poet 
could  find  material  for  a  creation  that  would  far 
transcend  in  beauty  and  sublimity  a  Tennyson's 
"Holy  Grail"  or  a  Wagners  "Parsifal,"  and  in  this 
quest  of  the  lowly  and  neglected  the  artist,  too, 
could  find  a  subject  worthy  of  his  highest  genius. 
No  one  occupies  so  high  a  place  in  the  affairs  of 
the  land  as  this  one  who  fills  the  lowest.  No  one 
has  so  much  to  do  with  the  intellectual,  moral  and 
spiritual  health  of  the  land  as  this  one  who  carries 
the  chalice  of  truth  and  helpfulness  from  lip  to  lip. 
Comparing  the  vain  sentimentalism  of  the  cup- 
seeker  with  the  practical  sympathy  of  the  cup-bearer, 
one  is  reminded  of  the  couplet: 

"To  find  a  little  child  and  bring  him  to  his  own 
Is    a    great    sight    better    business    than    loafing    'round    the 
throne." 

And  next  to  this  noble  pioneer  who  gathers  and 
instructs  Columbia's  neglected  people,  is  the  one 
who  follows  in  his  footsteps  and  builds  the  church. 
As  Bezaleel  constructed  the  tabernacle  in  the  desert 
of  old,  so  through  the  kindly  ministry  of  Church 
Extension  the  sanctuary  rears  its  splendid  propor- 


MISSIONARY    HEROES — THE    HOLY   GRAIL.       255 

tions  in  the  midst  of  the  wilderness,  and  while  its 
deep-toned  bell  calls  men  to  prayer,  its  tapering 
finger  points  to  Him  who  answers  prayer.  As  a 
very  present  help  in  time  of  need  with  words  of 
cheer  comes  the  genial  representative  of  this  Board, 
and  ere  long  the  discouraged  flock  is  safely  shel- 
tered in  a  capacious  fold.  This  cunning  artificer, 
this  knight  not  of  the  sword  and  spear,  but  of  the 
axe  and  saw,  has  dotted  the  country  from  ocean 
to  ocean  with  houses  of  worship,  where  homesick 
people  from  other  shores  can  sing  the  Lord's  songs 
in  a  land  no  longer  strange  because  of  these  spirit- 
ual homes.  With  the  cup,  not  of  cold  water,  but 
of  cold  cash,  he  travels  up  and  down  the  States, 
kindly  ministering  to  faint  and  struggling  congre- 
gations and  making  glad  the  people  of  God. 

But  our  theme  touches  particularly  the  people 
beyond  the  seas.  In  imagination  we  behold  all 
heathendom  nailed  to  a  gigantic  cross  by  the  soldiers 
of  ignorance,  superstition,  oppression  and  sin,  and 
in  the  midst  of  anguish  unspeakable  there  comes 
from  parched  lips  the  pitiable  wail,  "I  thirst."  And 
in  response  to  this  appeal  heroic  men  and  women 
are  going  into  all  lands,  not  to  search  for  some 
mythical  Grail,  not  like  the  sentimental  crusader 
to  wrest  an  empty  tomb  from  a  stranger's  hand, 
but  with  the  cup  of  helpfulness  to  supply  human 
need,  of  whatever  form,  wherever  found. 

St.  John  says  of  the  tree  of  life,  "The  leaves  of  the 


256  FOREIGN    MISSIONS, 

tree  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations."  Through 
the  kindly  ministry  of  medicine  the  missionary  is 
winning  his  way  to  heathen  hearts.  Not  only  was 
China  opened  at  the  point  of  the  lancet,  according  to 
Peter  Parker,  but  the  walls  of  caste  and  prejudice 
of  all  nations  are  being  rapidly  undermined  by  the 
tools  of  the  surgeon.  The  blind  of  the  orient,  of 
whom  one  million  exist  in  China  and  India  alone; 
the  insane,  that  in  the  Saviour's  time  made  the 
tombs  their  home;  the  mute,  sick,  crippled  and 
old — that  unfit  portion  of  the  community  that 
formerly  was  slain  by  the  hand  of  heathendom 
or  left  to  die  of  neglect;  the  1,300,000  lepers  of 
the  world — those  worst  afflicted  ones  of  all  the  chil- 
dren of  God — these  and  all  others  that  have  fallen 
by  the  way,  are  tenderly  cared  for  by  the  Good 
Samaritan  of  medicine  and  given  comfortable  lodg- 
ment in  hospitals  and  asylums,  those  cities  of  refuge, 
found  in  every  land.  Seventy  years  ago  the  heathen 
world,  with  its  800,000,000,  was  practically  without 
a  physician,  while  to-day  there  is  one  for  every 
2,500,000.  And  wherever  this  medical  missionary 
goes  he  erects  dispensaries,  hospitals  and  colleges, 
circulates  medical  journals,  books  on  hygiene  and 
sanitation  and  tracts  on  special  and  prevalent  dis- 
eases, emphasizes  scientific  drainage  and  pure  food 
and  water,  vaccinates  against  smallpox  and  inocu- 
lates against  cholera,   and   does  everything  in  his 


MISSIONARY    HEROES — THE   HOI.Y   GRAIL.       257 

power  to  induce  tlie  people  to  lead  clean  and  healthy 
lives. 

Again,  through  the  kindly  ministry  of  philan- 
thropy, another  side  of  heathen  life  is  touched. 
The  missionary  is  a  physician,  but  he  is  likewise  a 
reformer,  and  deals  not  only  with  the  ills,  but  with 
the  evils  of  humanity.  The  child  dwarfed  and 
stunted  by  oppressive  labor  in  early  years;  the 
maiden  ruthlessly  sold  by  a  selfish  parent,  or  de- 
voted in  the  name  of  religion  to  a  life  of  shame; 
the  child  widow,  of  whom  there  were  in  India 
25,000,000  twenty  years  ago;  the  prisoner  treated 
with  unspeakable  cruelty,  are  all  finding  an  unfail- 
ing friend  in  the  missionary.  Social  vice,  caste, 
opium  eating,  gambling,  liquor  traffic,  slavery,  foot- 
binding,  suicide,  cannibalism,  all  the  terrible  vices 
that  afilict  heathen  lands,  are  receiving  their  death 
blow  from  the  hand  of  this  modern  knight  who 
fights  and  faces  facts  instead  of  chasing  phantoms. 

Not  only  does  the  missionary  cure  the  ills  of  the 
body  and  deliver  it  from  the  vices  of  society,  but 
his  influence  extends  to  all  those  departments  of 
life  that  are  for  its  development  and  comfort. 
Someone  said,  "We  cannot  expect  our  people  to  sit 
with  empty  stomachs  at  the  feet  of  Christ  and  hear 
His  word."  So  through  the  instrumentality  of 
industrial  reform  the  missionary  is  giving  the  na- 
tive a  full  dinner  pail  and  a  comfortable  home, 
awakening  self-respect,  dignifying  labor  and  de- 
17 


258  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

veloping  aptitude  and  love  for  the  arts  and  appli- 
ances of  civilized  life;  goes  with  him  to  the  field 
and  shows  him  how  to  get  a  hundredfold  from 
soil  that  yielded  only  ten;  goes  with  him  to  the 
workshop  and  teaches  the  use  of  tools;  goes  with 
him  to  the  mart  of  trade  and  shows  him  the  business 
methods  of  the  western  world;  goes  to  his  home 
and  reveals  to  him  the  comforts  and  conveniences 
of  our  domestic  life.  The  products  of  our  in- 
ventive skill  are  carried  to  all  lands  to-day,  so  that 
the  Oliver  chilled  plow  has  supplanted  the  forked 
stick,  the  neat  cottage  the  wretched  hovel,  and  the 
printing  press  the  primitive  scribe.  The  wilderness 
to-day  is  being  enlivened  by  the  sewing  machine 
singing  the  song  of  the  shirt;  the  animals  of  the 
jungle  are  startled  with  the  shriek  of  the  locomo- 
tive and  the  whirr  of  the  circular  saw,  and  the  tele- 
graph— that  mysterious  word  roadway  of  the 
nations — is  creeping  into  remotest  parts,  whispering 
everywhere  its  message  of  help  and  hope. 

Thus  through  the  ministry  of  education  the  hea- 
then world  has  been  given  to  drink  of  a  still  better 
cup.  Missionaries  have  translated  the  Bible  into 
one-fifth  of  the  world's  languages  and  seven-tenths 
of  its  speech,  reducing  within  the  present  century 
219  languages  to  writing  and  distributing  through 
the  three  leading  Bible  societies  3,500,000  Bibles 
per  annum  in  465  tongues.  In  all  lands,  by  all 
denominations,  missionary  presses  are  in  operation, 


MISSIONARY   HEROES — THE   HOLY   GRAIL.      259 

printing  379  religious  papers  and  magazines  and 
scattering  tracts  among  the  people  as  Autumn  scat- 
ters her  leaves.  At  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury there  were  over  20,000  mission  schools,  rang- 
ing from  the  kindergarten  to  the  university,  and 
training  over  a  million  pupils  not  only  in  classical 
and  industrial  studies,  but  in  the  fundamental  tenets 
of  the  Christian  religion.  From  the  thousands  of 
pulpits  set  up  here  and  there  in  the  wilderness  at 
the  cost  of  bloody  sweat  of  heroic  missionaries, 
there  is  emanating  a  leaven  that  will  not  cease  to 
work  till  the  whole  wretched  lump  of  heathen  life 
is  completely  transformed.  Yes,  while  from  the 
lips  of  the  victim  writhing  on  this  cross  comes  the 
wail,  "I  thirst!" 

I  had  a  dream  which  was  not  all  a  dream.  Being 
lifted  up  my  eyes  beheld  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
and  moving  amid  the  shadows  of  the  dark  lands 
were  strange  figures  holding  mystic  cups  to  thirsty 
lips,  placing  neath  weak  frames  untiring  arms  and 
whispering  words  of  hope  in  ears  of  death.  And 
I  said  to  myself,  the  discoverer  goes  into  all  the 
earth  in  search  of  unknown  lands,  piercing  even 
polar  ice  and  snow  to  add  glory  to  his  name;  the 
warrior  goes  to  subjugate  alien  people  and  add 
kingdoms  to  his  realm  and  stars  to  his  crown;  the 
adventurer  goes  to  dig  gold  and  precious  stones 
out  of  the  very  heart  of  the  stranger's  home;  the 
scholar  goes  to  study  the  habits  and  life  of  heathen 


26o  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

people  as  he  would  those  of  an  insect  or  an  animal : 
All  these,  on  selfish  purpose  bent,  invade  the  dark- 
ness, but  like  priest  and  Levite  of  old  pass  heedless 
by  the  weak  and  wounded,  while  this  unselfish 
bearer  of  the  blessed  cup  is  the  only  one  of  all  the 
train  that  comes  to  give  and  not  to  take.  And  con- 
sidering this,  I  said  to  myself  that  as  far  as  educa- 
tion is  above  exploitation,  love  above  lust,  un- 
selfishness above  selfishness,  so  far  is  Abraham 
above  Alexander,  Paul  above  Napoleon,  Carey 
above  Caesar,  Moffatt  and  Morrison  above  Marco 
Polo — yea,  that  far  is  the  humblest  missionary  in 
the  service  of  the  cross  above  the  mightiest  warrior 
or  adventurer  that  ever  shook  a  continent  with  his 
selfish  tread. 

And  I  say  to  you  to-day  that  when  the  roll  is 
called  at  the  great  assize  of  the  nations,  the  names 
that  stand  highest  and  shine  brightest  will  not,  of 
course,  be  those  selfish  giants  who  paved  their  way 
to  power  with  human  hearts,  neither  will  they  be 
those  sentimental  ecstatics  that  dwelt  among  the 
clouds  of  speculation,  heedless  of  human  need,  but 
the  names  that  will  lead  all  the  rest  in  God's  great 
list  will  be  of  these  humble  cup-bearers  of  the  King, 
these  Good  Samaritans  that  everywhere  have  un- 
selfishly labored  for  the  salvation  of  men. 


X 

A  MISSIONARY  HERO— DAVID  A.  DAY,  D.D. 


A  MISSIONARY  HERO— DAVID  A.  DAY,  D.  D. 

GEORGE  SCHOLL^  D.D. 

An  astute  observer  and  profound  student  of  hu- 
man nature  has  defined  a  hero  as  "one  who  can  defy 
the  demands  of  a  life  so  full  that  it  almost  smothers 
him,  and  can  insist  upon  the  definite  line  along 
which  his  life  shall  be  lived."  Goethe  says:  "Be- 
lieve me,  most  part  of  all  the  misery  and  mischief, 
of  all  that  is  denominated  evil  in  the  world,  arises 
from  the  fact  that  men  are  too  remiss  to  get  a 
proper  knowledge  of  their  aims,  and  when  they  do 
know  them,  to  work  intensely  in  attaining  them." 

In  other  words,  the  man  who,  taking  a  broad  and 
comprehensive  view  of  life,  including  time  and 
eternity,  decides  what  for  him  is  the  supreme  end 
of  his  being,  and  then  presses  toward  the  attain- 
ment of  that  end  with  an  unfaltering  purpose  that 
counts  all  else  secondary  and  comparatively  unim- 
portant, has  unconsciously  enrolled  himself  as  one 
of  the  world's  heroes.  This,  from  my  intimate  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  the  man,  I  unhesitatingly  assert 
accurately  describes  David  A.  Day. 

I  shall  refer  to  only  two  instances  in  proof  of 
this  assertion,  although  his  whole  career  as  a  mis- 
sionary bears  testimony  to  this  fact.     There  was  a 

(263) 


264  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

time  when,  by  some  persons  in  the  Church,  he  was 
seriously  considered  for  the  position  of  Secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  No  one,  it  was 
thought,  was  so  well  qualified  to  arouse  a  lethargic 
church  to  an  adequate  sense  of  the  importance  and 
magnitude  of  the  work.  When  this  came  to  the 
knowledge  of  Dr.  Day  he  did  not  take  a  week  or 
even  a  day  or  an  hour  to  consider  the  question,  but 
instantly,  with  a  look  that  was  even  more  expressive 
than  his  words,  said  to  me,  "I  am  a  missionary." 
Years  before  he  had  chosen  his  calling.  His  goal 
was  set,  and  nothing  could  swerve  him  from  his 
course  by  so  much  as  an  inch.  Personal  comfort, 
family  relations,  health,  life  itself,  these  did  not 
enter  into  consideration.  The  proposition  had  no 
temptation  for  him.  With  another  missionary  hero 
of  old  he,  too,  could  say  with  equal  depth  of  con- 
viction and  unwavering  purpose,  "This  one  thing 
I  do." 

The  other  incident  to  which  I  refer  is  located  in 
Washington.  It  so  occurred  that  a  prominent  of- 
ficial, connected  with  the  United  States  Weather 
Bureau,  heard  him  speak  at  a  Sunday  evening  serv- 
ice. In  the  course  of  his  address  Dr.  Day,  in  a 
few  graphic  sentences,  flashed  out  a  brilliant  de- 
scription of  an  equatorial  electrical  storm  such  as 
occasionally  sweeps  over  that  section  of  Africa. 
Next  day  that  official  called  at  our  stopping  place 
and  sought  an  interview  with  the  speaker  of  the 


A   MISSIONARY  HERO DAVID    A.  DAY,  D.  D.       265 

previous  evening.  He  said  to  me,  "That  man,  I 
judge,  knows  more  about  the  meteoric  phenomena 
of  the  west  coast  of  Africa  than  any  man  in  this 
or  any  other  country" ;  and,  after  more  than  an 
hour's  conference,  at  which  our  host,  Dr.  Parson 
and  I  were  present,  we  all  discovered  to  our  sur- 
prise that  Dr.  Day's  knowledge  of  the  phenomena 
referred  to  was  not  simply  of  a  general  and  super- 
ficial character,  but,  in  a  large  degree,  thoroughly 
scientific.  It  appeared  that  he  had  carefully  studied 
the  whole  subject  as  a  recreation  from  his  more 
serious  engagements. 

The  conference  resulted  in  the  official  asking  Dr. 
Day  to  undertake  the  work  of  observing,  with  the 
aid  of  such  appliances  as  the  department  would  fur- 
nish him,  the  weather  conditions  of  his  section  of 
the  country,  and  regularly  reporting  the  same  to  the 
Bureau  at  Washington,  He  added,  that  while  there 
was  no  provision  made  in  his  department  for  that 
particular  work,  he  felt  confident  there  would  be  no 
difficulty  in  providing  suitable  remuneration  by  a 
special  act  of  Congress.  The  work,  he  thought, 
could  be  done  without  seriously  interfering  with 
his  duties  at  Muhlenberg  Mission.  To  this  highly 
complimentary  and  tempting  offer.  Dr.  Day,  with 
a  look,  and  a  smile,  and  a  shake  of  the  head  that 
was  quite  unmistakable  and  conclusive  in  its  mean- 
ing, replied,  "I  cannot  do  it.  My  work  is  that  of 
a  missionary." 


266  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

A  shallow-minded,  materialistic  worshiper  of  the 
golden  calf  might  have  made  further  effort  to  per- 
suade him  to  accept  the  offer  by  the  promise  of  a 
large  salary,  but  that  official  was  a  man  who  had 
both  heart  and  intellect,  and  consequently  had  not 
another  word  to  say ;  for  he  promptly  recognized  the 
fact  that  he  had  come  up  against  an  Alpine  hero  who 
was  planted  on  the  Rock  of  Ages.  Our  host  had 
planned  to  take  us  to  the  capitol  that  day  to  hear 
a  famous  debate  that  was  on  in  the  Senate.  Later 
on  Dr.  Parson  said  to  me,  "Aren't  you  glad  we 
didn't  go  over  to  the  capitol?"  and  I  replied,  "Yes, 
for  the  United  States  Senate  couldn't  have  given 
us  anything  half  that  good." 

In  the  brief  time  allotted  me  I  cannot  do  more 
than  hold  up  before  you  a  few  of  the  noble  and  self- 
sacrificing  traits  of  Dr.  Day's  life;  and  I  shall  do 
this  in  the  hope  that  our  contemplation  of  them  may 
broaden  and  deepen  the  current  of  our  own  spiritual 
life  and  beget  in  us  a  greater  interest  in  the  work 
to  which  he  consecrated  his  life. 

Dr.  Day  was  endowed  by  nature  with  one  of  the 
prime  requisites  for  the  service  in  which  he  en- 
gaged. He  was  the  possessor  of  a  magnificent 
body.  The  verdict  of  one  well  qualified  to  judge  in 
such  matters  was  that,  tested  by  the  highest  stand- 
ard of  physical  excellence,  comparatively  few 
young  men  could  be  found  that  would  measure  up  to 
what  he  was  physically.     This  body,   with  all   its 


A    MISSIONARY   HERO — DAVID   A.  DAY,  D.  D.       267 

capacity  for  toil  and  the  endurance  of  hardships,  he 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  the  Master. 

His  intellectual  powers  were  of  no  ordinary  char- 
acter. Those  of  us  who  came  into  closest  touch 
with  him  know  that,  in  the  breadth  of  his  general 
information,  in  the  accuracy  and  thoroughness  of 
his  knowledge  of  the  various  sciences,  his  careful 
observation  of  the  phenomena  of  nature,  his  ex- 
tensive familiarity  with  the  governmental  affairs 
of  the  nations  of  the  earth,  his  profound  and  intel- 
ligent interest  in  the  sociological  questions  of  the 
day,  and  in  his  clear  and  comprehensive  grasp  of 
well  nigh  every  question  that  touches  human  life 
and  interest.  Dr.  Day  had  few,  if  any,  peers  among 
those  engaged  in  the  same  calling  of  life.  These 
powers  of  intellect  he  so  fully  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  the  Master  that,  with  the  great  apostle 
to  the  Gentiles,  he,  too,  could  say  that  he  was  de- 
termined not  to  know  anything  save  Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified. 

But  it  is  in  heart  and  soul  especially  that  Dr. 
Day  stands  before  us  as  an  Alpine  character.  In 
faith  as  simple  as  a  child ;  his  hope  unquenchable ; 
a  love  as  broad  as  humanity;  a  courage  that  knew 
no  fear;  a  will  that  he  ever  sought  to  co-ordinate 
with  the  divine  will ;  a  heart  as  tender  as  a  woman's ; 
and  a  devotion  to  his  work  that  left  out  of  considera- 
tion all  personal  comforts  and  temporal  emoluments. 
In  short,  his  was  a  well-framed  body,  a  diversely 


268  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

cultured  intellect,  a  great  and  manly  soul,  a  lofty 
reason,  an  indomitable  will,  a  lion-like  courage,  a 
burning  zeal,  a  heroic  devotion,  an  iron  constitu- 
tion, a  Pauline  faith,  and  a  Christlike  love. 

This  was  David  A.  Day  as  I  learned  to  know  him 
through  months  of  close  companionship  and  twenty 
years  of  official  and  personal  correspondence  with 
him. 

The  question  may  be  asked — it  has  been  fre- 
quently asked — is  it  right  to  send  such  a  man  to 
such  a  field?  We  need  not  concern  ourselves  over- 
much about  the  answer  to  such  a  question.  All  we 
need  to  do  is  to  remember  that  his  Master  and  ours 
sent  Dr.  Day  to  Africa,  and  that  in  going  he  simply 
followed  the  Master's  example  and  obeyed  the 
Master's  command,  with  this  difference  only,  that 
the  Master  came  down  from  an  infinitely  higher 
altitude  and  descended  to  a  far  greater  depth  of 
humiliation  and  shame  than  has  been  the  lot  of  any 
follower  of  His. 

Is  not  this,  indeed,  the  crowning  glory  of  our 
humanity,  the  very  essence  of  our  religion,  that 
there  is  in  our  nature  a  something  or  a  somewhat 
that  impels  us  to  give  ourselves  to  the  work  of  help- 
ing and  saving  our  fellow-men  without  raising  the 
question  as  to  personal  reward,  or  whether  saviour 
or  the  saved  is  intrinsically  the  more  worthy? 
Should  we  not  rather  rejoice  that  there  always  have 
been  and  still  are  to  be  found  men  and  women  who 


A    MISSIONARY   HERO — DAVID   A.  DAY,  D,  D.       269 

are  ready,  gladly  and  joyfully,  to  take  their  lives  in 
their  hands  and  go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  in  an- 
swer to  the  Master's  call — men  and  women  who 
seem  not  to  have  the  least  trace  of  the  materialistic 
spirit  in  them? 

This  heroic  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  I  say,  is  the 
crowning  glory  of  our  humanity.  Our  pioneer 
forefathers,  who  cleared  the  forests  and  fought  the 
battles  that  made  this  land  the  greatest  nation  on 
the  face  of  the  globe,  endured  indescribable  hard- 
ships and  thousands  yielded  up  their  lives  in  the 
struggle,  but  they  have  left  us  a  rich  and  royal  leg- 
acy. Hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  left  mothers 
and  wives  and  sweethearts  and  faced  the  deadly 
cannon  that  this  Union  of  States  might  stand  as 
one  nation :  and  though  they  went  out  from  home 
knowing  full  well  that  tens  of  thousands  of  them 
would  not  return  alive,  still  they  went;  and  those 
same  mothers  and  wives  and  sweethearts  would 
have  been  ashamed  of  their  sons  and  husbands  and 
lovers  if  they  had  refused  to  go.  In  the  presence  of 
such  devotion  and  sacrifice  shall  the  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ  show  less  heroism?  And  shall  the  Church 
of  the  living  God  exhibit  less  interest  in  the  men 
and  women  whom  she  sends  to  the  field,  or  accord 
to  them  a  less  hearty  and  generous  support? 

St.  Francis  Xavier  said,  "If  the  lands  of  the 
savages  had  scented  woods  and  mines  of  gold. 
Christians   would   have   courage  to  go   there,   nor 


270  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

would  the  perils  of  the  worid  prevent  them.  Shall 
love  be  less  hearty  and  generous  than  avarice?" 

Of  all  others,  it  seems  to  me,  we  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  should  be  the  very  last  to  show  a  lack  of 
courage  in  carrying  on  this  work.  Of  all  others  we 
should  not  be  found  wanting  in  bone  and  sinew, 
in  moral  grit  and  iron  in  the  blood — we  who  have 
our  ecclesiastical  descent  from  the  indomitable, 
much-enduring,  storm-braving  hero  of  the  Reforma- 
tion days. 

Such  an  one  was  our  brother  who  so  courageously 
stood  at  his  post  and  endured  to  the  end.  Such,  too, 
was  his  helpmate  who  preceded  him  to  the  celestial 
world.  Only  a  short  time  before  her  passage  hence, 
she,  with  undaunted  faith  and  Spartan  courage,  so 
w^eak  she  could  hardly  wield  her  pen,  wrote  to  him 
standing  like  the  hero  he  was  in  his  place  at  the 
front,  "Do  not  come  home.  Stay  where  you  are. 
Africa  needs  you  more  than  I  do."  Taking  all  the 
circumstances  into  consideration,  did  ever  mortal 
lips  give  utterance  to  braver  and  more  heroic  words 
— words  that  sounded  the  very  depth  of  a  self- 
sacrificing  and  heroic  devotion  to  the  Master's 
cause  ? 

Of  like  spirit  and  character  also  are  the  words 
which,  at  one  time,  were  thought  to  be  the  last  ut- 
terance of  Dr.  Day.  "Close  up  the  ranks — more 
men  wanted — close  up."  These  utterances  are 
worthy  of  being  engraved  not  simply  on  the  marble 


A    MISSIONARY    HERO — DAVID    A.  DAY,  D.  D.       27 1 

tomb  that  marks  their  last  resting  place,  but  on  the 
Hving,  pulsating,  consecrated  heart  of  the  Church 
which  they  loved  and  served  so  well. 

One  word  more  and  I  am  done.  What  is  the 
secret  of  such  a  life?  What  molding  influence, 
what  shaping  hand,  what  transforming  power 
wrought  this  miracle?  Who  was  it  that  took  the 
poor,  homeless,  ragged,  barefoot  boy,  crying  himself 
to  sleep  under  a  horse  blanket  on  his  bed  of  straw 
in  a  stall  of  a  livery  stable  here  in  Harrisburg,  and 
set  him  high  up  on  a  pedestal  of  loving  hearts  as  the 
recognized  missionary  hero  of  our  church?  Only 
He,  by  His  saving  grace  and  renewing  power,  could 
work  such  a  miracle  who  Himself  was  born  in  a 
stable  and  cradled  in  a  manger. 


CHURCH  EXTENSION 
I 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


CHURCH  EXTENSION. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  CHURCH 
EXTENSION. 

H.    H.    WEBER^   D.D. 

The  Church  Extension  movement,  like  every  other 
great  enterprise,  had  a  very  small  beginning.  If 
encouragement  had  not  come  from  God's  word  not 
to  "despise  the  day  of  small  things,"  the  cause 
might  have  been  dropped  in  despair.  We  know  that 
the  best  and  the  greatest  achievements  in  the  world 
have  been  wrought  out  through  agencies  of  the 
humblest  sort.  Men  of  renown,  of  commanding  in- 
fluence and  of  brilliant  talents,  have  risen  up  from  a 
low-down  scale  of  life.  Three  hundred  years  ago 
an  infant  republic  set  its  feet  on  Plymouth  Rock, 
amid  the  most  dismal  surroundings  and  uncertain 
future ;  but  that  same  infant  has  stepped  across  the 
continent,  and  now,  in  the  pride  of  manhood,  takes 
in  a  commonwealth  of  States.  The  small  immigrant 
family  circle  of  that  day  now  counts  an  empire  of 
nearly  one  hundred  million  people. 

It  is  so  in  other  things  as  in  men  and  nations. 

(275) 


276  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

Nothing  great  is  born  great.  The  Church  of  Christ 
itself  is  an  illustration.  So  are  the  institutions  of 
the  Church.  Her  educational  and  benevolent  organ- 
izations, in  all  ages,  have  grown  up  from  small  be- 
ginnings. The  grain  of  mustard  seed  applies  to 
other  developing  forces  than  the  kingdom  of 
heaven. 

Perhaps  no  organization  in  the  General  Synod 
had  so  small  a  beginning  and  such  a  constant 
struggle  to  secure  support  as  our  Church  Extension 
work.  It  came  into  life  at  the  meeting  of  the  Gen- 
eral Synod  at  Winchester,  Va.,  in  May,  1853.  At 
a  meeting,  held  at  Frederick,  Md.,  a  few  days  prior, 
composed  of  ministers  and  laymen  of  the  Church,  to 
discuss  the  question  of  inaugurating  a  Church  Ex- 
tension movement,  it  was  resolved  that  such  a  meas- 
ure was  of  vital  importance  to  the  growing  interests 
of  the  Church.  The  Home  Missionary  Society  in 
Baltimore  felt  the  necessity  of  such  an  auxiliary  to 
give  strength  and  permanency  to  the  missions  of 
the  Church.  And  the  appeals  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  for  aid  in  church  building  were  so  loud  and 
urgent  that  the  convention  framed  a  constitution 
and  by-laws,  which  were  reported  to  the  Synod 
for  its  consideration.  The  action  of  the  convention 
was  approved,  and  the  constitution  and  by-laws 
adopted,  and  a  Church  Extension  Society  formally 
organized. 

The  organization  now  had  a  name,  and  it  was 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  277 

given  a  local  habitation,  too,  but  that  was  all.  The 
scheme  proposed  a  fund  of  $50,000  to  be  raised  in 
the  churches  of  the  General  Synod.  From  this  fund 
loans  were  to  be  made  to  deserving  congregations, 
for  a  few  years,  without  interest,  and  then  be  re- 
turned to  the  Treasurer  of  the  society  for  reap- 
propriation.  In  this  early  and  inexperienced  opera- 
tion of  the  funds  for  this  cause,  it  was  thought  the 
$50,000  was  a  large  and  adequate  sum  to  meet  all 
the  necessities  of  the  work.  But  it  did  not,  and  the 
$50,000  was  never  raised — no,  never  as  the  con- 
stitution required. 

The  operations  of  the  society  were  necessarily 
limited  to  the  amount  of  funds  in  the  treasury. 
Only  $4,356  was  contributed  by  the  churches  in  two 
succeeding  years,  and  no  appropriations  made.  But 
at  Dayton,  in  1855,  the  General  Synod  instructed 
the  Executive  Committee  to  appropriate  the  funds 
in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  to  responsible  Luth- 
eran congregations  at  six  per  cent,  interest.  Two 
years  later,  in  1857,  at  Reading,  the  society  reported 
total  receipts  $9,559,  and  appropriations,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  instructions  of  the  General  Synod, 
to  the  amount  of  $7,721  to  sixteen  congregations. 
It  may  be  considered  a  trifling  work  of  four  years, 
but  it  was  a  beginning,  and  no  better  work  was 
ever  done  in  this  line  under  the  circumstances.  The 
Executive  Committee  was  composed  of  good  and 
popular  business  men  and  faithful  stewards  of  the 


278  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

Lord,  and  men  who  gave  character  to  the  Church 
Extension  movement  by  their  judicious  management 
of  its  affairs.  And  looking  back  to  the  early  be- 
ginning of  this  work,  when  all  was  new  and  untried, 
and  seeing  to  what  reach  of  importance  it  has  at- 
tained, we  need  to  lay  a  tribute  of  grateful  recog- 
nition of  the  faithful  and  efficient  services  of  these 
men  who  laid  the  foundation  so  well.  We  owe  much 
to  these  men  for  their  labors. 

In  1869,  at  the  Washington  meeting  of  the  Gen- 
eral Synod,  the  work  of  Church  Extension  was 
committed  to  a  Board  appointed  by  that  body,  to 
whom  were  transferred  the  records,  papers,  assets 
and  interests,  and  the  society  dissolved.  This 
opened  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  Church  Exten- 
sion work.  The  objects  and  general  outlines  of 
the  case  did  not  change,  but  the  management  was 
changed. 

During  sixteen  years  of  the  society's  operations, 
the  ground-work  of  Church  Extension  was  substan- 
tially laid.  The  nature  and  needs  of  the  cause  were 
made  known  to  the  Church.  Appeals  and  collections 
and  donations  had,  up  to  this  time,  amounted  to 
$12,680,  covering  only  a  small  portion  of  the  $50,- 
000  proposed  at  the  organization  of  the  society. 

The  Board,  in  beginning  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  imposed,  experienced  difficulties  and  embar- 
rassments no  less  than  the  former  Executive  Com- 
mittee did.     Two  thousand  dollars  were  the  avail- 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  279 

able  funds,  from  which  appropriations  were  to  be 
made.  Thirty-two  beneficiaries  were  bequeathed  by 
the  ex-committee,  aggregating  loans  to  the  amount 
of  over  $10,000;  some  due  at  that  time  and  some 
not  yet  due,  and  some  of  these  loans  are  unpaid  to 
this  day.  No  apportionment  among  the  churches 
for  this  branch  of  benevolence.  No  secretary  to 
canvass  the  synods  and  congregations.  No  synod- 
ical  enactments  to  give  the  Church  Extension  cause 
a  front  seat  in  its  sympathies  and  deliberations.  The 
Boards  from  time  to  time  pressed  the  claims  of 
Church  Extension  for  recognition  equal  to  Foreign 
Missions  and  Home  Missions  and  the  Publication 
Society,  and  to  hold  anniversary  exercises  at  the 
meetings  of  General  Synod.  This  was  finally 
granted,  and  the  first  Church  Extension  anniversary 
exercise  was  held  in  1881,  at  Altoona.  And  not  un- 
til 1877,  at  the  meeting  at  Carthage,  was  there  a 
regular  apportionment  made  for  the  Church  Ex- 
tension treasury. 

This  Board  had  no  secretary  until  1883.  Up  to 
that  time  the  only  clerical  service  was  given  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Home  Mission  Board — the  two 
Boards  then  being  composed  of  the  same  members ; 
and  in  consequence  a  great  amount  of  labor  was 
imposed  upon  the  members  of  the  Boards.  But  the 
work  was  done,  and  the  interest  increased,  and  the 
contributions  increased,  and  God  smiled  upon  the 
cause.    From  this  small  beginning  a  great  and  com- 


28o  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

manding-  benevolent  institution  has  grown,  and 
stands  abreast  with  the  other  benevolent  agencies 
of  the  Church. 

The  first  secretary  to  give  his  whole  time  to  the 
work  of  Church  Extension  was  the  late  Rev.  Dr. 
James  W.  Richard.  He  served  the  Board  from  1883 
to  1885.  From  1885  to  1889,  Rev.  Joseph  Clark 
Zimmerman,  D.D.,  of  blessed  memory,  was  the 
Secretary.  Rev.  John  N,  Lenker,  D.D.,  was  Field 
Secretary  from  1888  to  1894,  and  Rev.  H.  L.  Yar- 
ger,  D.D.,  has  held  that  position  since  1895.  The 
present  General  Secretary,  H.  H.  Weber,  D.D.,  has 
been  with  the  Board  since  1889. 

The  assets  now  amount  to  nearly  $700,000,  and 
receipts  for  the  past  biennium  will  show  the  sum  of 
$200,000. 


II 


CHURCH  EXTENSION  AND  CHURCH 
DEVELOPMENT 


CHURCH  EXTENSION  AND  CHURCH 
DEVELOPMENT. 

W.  S.   FREAS,  D.D. 

Forty  years  of  growth  and  development  in  the 
Lord's  work  is  worth  rejoicing  over.  A  spirit  of 
gratiilation  and  thanksgiving  is  not  only  quite  par- 
donable at  this  time,  but  the  absence  of  this  note 
of  triumph  would  argue  both  blindness  and  ingrati- 
tude to  Almighty  God  for  the  great  things  He  hath 
done  for  us  and  concerning  which  we  have  a  right 
to  be  glad. 

The  best  thing  I  can  say  of  our  Church  Exten- 
sion Board  is  that  its  aid  is  an  indispensable  neces- 
sity for  carrying  on  the  Lord's  work  and  establish- 
ing His  kingdom  in  our  own  land.  The  realization 
of  this  fact  is  what  impelled  the  fathers  to  organize 
this  and  the  other  Boards  in  1869.  The  Home  Mis- 
sion propaganda  was  dependent  for  its  success  and 
crown  upon  the  supplementary  work  of  this  agency 
which  provides  the  home  in  which  the  young  con- 
gregations formed  are  to  gather.  Without  the  church 
building,  the  beautiful  house  of  the  Lord, the  achieve- 
ments over  which  we  rejoice  to-day  would  have 
been  impossible ;  yea,  none  of  the  other  agencies 
which  have  since  grown  so  successful  and  strong, 
(283) 


284  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

such  as  Education,  Orphans'  Homes,  Homes  for  the 
Aged,  our  PubHcation  interests,  could  have  reached 
respectable  influence  and  power,  for  the  congrega- 
tion is  the  unit  of  efficiency  and  strength,  the  point 
of  departure,  the  source  of  the  river  of  power  now 
flowing  so  steadily  and  triumphantly  onward 
through  our  land.  And  in  the  congregation  the 
interests  of  this  Board,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Home 
Mission  Board,  must  center.  The  success  of  our 
whole  Church  depends  on  the  success  of  our  con- 
gregations, and,  lacking  a  suitable  house  of  wor- 
ship, what  is  the  weak,  young  congregation,  but  a 
little  flock  of  sheep  under  the  pitiless  sky,  with  the 
night  approaching  and  surrounded  by  devouring 
wolves  ? 

For  progress  made  and  results  achieved  I  by  no 
means  arrogate  to  this  one  Board  credit  or  praise. 
If  credit  is  due,  it  is  to  the  whole  awakened  Church. 
In  all  His  work  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church 
knows  on  whom  to  bestow  honor,  and  in  due  season 
all  the  faithful  shall  reap  if  they  faint  not. 

But  it  is  surely  now  in  place  to  show  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Board  of  Church  Extension  on  the  de- 
velopment of  our  beloved  Lutheran  Zion  and  the 
humble  part  it  has  had  in  the  present  influence  and 
assured  strength  of  our  General  Synod.  The  home 
work  has  two  parts :  first,  the  organization  and 
bringing  to  self-support  of  the  mission  congrega- 
tions ;  and,  secondly,  the  erection  of  the  house  of 


CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  285 

God  in  which  they  may  gather  for  the  work  and  wor- 
ship of  the  Most  High,  and  by  means  of  which  self- 
support  may  be  the  sooner  reahzed.  Notice,  then, 
that — 

I.  Successful  mission  work  can  be  done  only 
when  the  house  of  God  is  provided  for  the  little 
flock. 

This  proposition  seems  self-evident.  This  neces- 
sity in  the  early  church  compelled  resort  to  caves 
and  deserted  quarries  and  the  burial  places  of  the 
dead  as  safe  retreats  for  worship,  when,  driven 
from  the  temple  courts  and  synagogues,  the  people 
of  Christ  met  together  to  hear  the  word  and  cele- 
brate the  sacraments.  Church  buildings  were  pro- 
vided, and  God's  people  were  forced  to  provide 
them,  from  the  instinct  of  self -perpetuation  and  self- 
preservation.  The  inadequacy  and  comparative 
failure  of  the  old  Home  Missionary  Society  shows 
this.  It  was  lacking  and  unsatisfactory,  not  because 
the  men  who  conducted  its  affairs  were  not  thor- 
oughly consecrated  and  able  men,  for  the  new 
Boards  formed  were  composed  largely  of  the  same 
material  as  formed  the  Executive  Committees  of 
the  societies.  One  cause  for  their  embarrassment 
was  that  provision  to  help  the  newly-formed  mis- 
sions to  churches  was  so  lamentably  inadequate. 
No!  it  must  be  acknowledged  there  was  a  deeper 
reason  than  that.  It  was  the  lack  of  intelligence, 
knowledge,   real   information,   and   the   consequent 


286  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

lack  of  interest.  Teach  our  people  the  need,  make 
them  thoroughly  understand  the  requirements  of 
the  situation  and  their  consequent  responsibility, 
and  they  will  always  answer,  as  they  are  now  begin- 
ning everywhere  to  answer  along  the  whole  line  of 
church  development  and  progress.  And  one  of 
the  first  things  the  newly  created  Boards  set  about 
to  do  was  to  scatter  information  broadcast,  to  tell 
the  Church  of  the  desperate  need  until  their  ears 
rang  and  their  hearts  were  stirred,  and  then,  after 
the  rock  was  smitten,  the  waters  began  to  flow  and 
have  been  flowing  ever  since,  all  along  the  rejoicing 
march  of  the  Church. 

The  actual  success  of  the  work  since  the  creation 
of  the  Boards  demonstrates  the  necessity  of  church 
building  help  for  the  missions  organized.  There 
is  no  trouble  to  organize  missions.  The  Home 
Board  could  to-day  organize  a  thousand  if  they  had 
the  men  and  means,  but  such  work  is  limited  by  the 
power  of  the  Church  to  house  and  bring  to  speedy 
self-support  the  missions  founded.  A  few  figures 
will  set  forth  better  than  many  words  the  growth 
of  the  work  consequent  upon  the  creation  of  this 
and  the  other  two  Boards.  In  1869,  in  York,  Pa., 
there  were  but  four  churches ;  by  Church  Extension 
aid,  of  course,  supplementing  Home  Mission  help, 
there  are  now  twelve,  and  the  membership  has  in- 
creased more  than  fivefold.  Philadelphia  had  then 
three  churches  and  now  there  are  fifteen  there.    New 


CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  287 

York  then  had  two,  now  has  eighteen;  Baltimore 
five,  now  twenty-one.  Chicago  then  was  without  a 
single  church  of  the  General  Synod,  and  now  there 
are  ten  in  that  great  city.  West  Virginia  was  then 
an  undiscovered  field,  and  now  has  sixteen  churches. 
The  whole  West,  comprising  the  Synods  of  Iowa, 
Kansas,  Nebraska,  German  Nebraska,  Rocky  Moun- 
tain and  California,  then  was  largely  fallow  ground, 
virgin  prairie,  and  now  is  filled  with  hundreds  of 
churches  since  organized  and  brought  to  self-sup- 
port, and  the  work  still  goes  grandly  forward.  The 
Board  of  Church  Extension  in  these  forty  years  has 
aided  no  less  than  seven  hundred  congregations, 
nearly  all  missions,  to  secure  their  own  church 
homes.  Who  can  think  of  the  fine  churches  point- 
ing their  spires  and  towers  like  steadfast  fingers 
toward  heaven,  such  as  those  in  San  Francisco, 
Omaha,  Louisville,  Pittsburgh,  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  and  a  hundred  other  places  aided  by  this 
Board,  without  feeling  within  a  thrill  of  justifiable 
pride,  over  the  visible  and  tangible  success  granted 
us,  in  spite  of  our  shortcomings,  by  our  gracious 
Lord? 

IL  Our  present  confidence  and  aggressive  spirit 
as  a  General  Synod  are  largely  the  product  of  this 
work. 

Follow  the  trail  of  light  left  by  our  first  Secreta- 
ries in  their  hard  and  self-denying  work,  as  they 
speeded  from  place  to  place,  amid  many  hardships 


288  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

and  pitiful  self-denials,  through  the  Church.  Who 
can  forget  Barnitz,  loyal  soul;  and  Zimmerman, 
clear,  clean  cut,  frank  and  honest,  as  the  light  began 
to  grow  brighter;  or  that  other  godly  and  trans- 
parently sincere  servant  of  the  King,  Goodlin,  as  they 
pleaded  with  synods,  fired  the  young,  awakened 
churches  and  pressed  on  the  universal  attention  the 
crying  need,  the  appalling  destitution,  the  golden  op- 
portunities fast  fleeting  and  white  harvests  left  all 
unreaped  ? 

Now  the  Church  is  full  of  hope.  Whole  sections 
are  on  fire  with  missionary  zeal.  Witness  Pitts- 
burgh, where  the  very  air  is  charged  with  intense 
earnestness  and  tonic  with  moral  power,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  other  fields.  The 
young  pastors  who  are  taking  charge  to-day  start 
with  the  confidence  and  prestige  of  success;  they 
have  a  heritage  of  faith  and  its  achievements  to  spur 
them  on.  There  has  not  been  a  single  mission  or- 
ganized for  many  years  without  the  hearty  co-op- 
eration and  practical  counsel  of  this  Board  in  secur- 
ing for  itself  a  church  home,  and  the  whole  field  is 
dotted  from  New  England  to  San  Francisco  and 
from  Virginia  to  Canada  with  the  beautiful  sanctu- 
aries erected  and  made  possible  by  the  splendid  sup- 
port given  throughout  the  Church  to  this  blessed 
agency  of  help. 

Who  would  have  dared,  forty  years  ago,  to  have 
undertaken   the   raising  of  $25,000,   even   in   two 


CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  289 

years,  for  this  cause?  We  might  ahnost  say  it 
would  have  been  a  practical  impossibility,  an  en- 
thusiastic dream.  Now,  every  year,  the  children 
of  the  Sunday  school  give  $25,000  and  more  for 
Church  Extension,  and  I  know  of  one  class  in  one 
Sunday  school  that  gives  every  year  a  thou- 
sand dollars  to  help  build  churches  for  the  needy. 
The  churches  reported  aided  in  1869  were  four  and 
$1800  was  the  whole  amount  of  help  distributed; 
in  1907,  two  hundred  and  eighty  appropriations 
were  reported  to  the  General  Synod  and  for  the 
biennium  then  closed  $175,000  was  loaned  and  do- 
nated. The  $10,000  invested  at  the  beginning  of 
this  period  was  to  the  fathers  a  very  liberal  sum  and 
felt  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  situation;  now  $100,- 
000  is  not  considered  as  nearly  so  large  or  adequate 
to  requirements. 

The  causes  of  all  this  are  threefold :  organization, 
system,  superintendence.  Unorganized  strength  is 
but  weakness ;  sometimes  even  worse,  for  it  invites 
attack.  When  men  are  thoroughly  aroused  and 
their  fighting  blood  is  up,  they  do  not  spread  the 
hand  and  open  the  fingers  in  appeal,  but  double  up 
the  fist  as  a  solid  and  effective  weapon  and  both  give 
and  take  blows.  Our  scattered  energies  were  the 
hand  with  the  fingers  spread ;  each  Board  is  now 
the  doubled  fist,  and  with  it  they  are  striking  mighty 
blows  at  the  kingdom  of  Satan.  The  Church  has 
19 


290  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

learned  the  power  of  concentration,  how  to  organize 
its  resources  and  wield  them  as  one  for  results. 

The  system  of  gathering  and  dispensing  the  funds 
has  grown  up  slowly,  and  experience  as  well  as 
sanctified  common  sense  and  business  acumen  have 
been  our  teachers.  Our  means  are  not  now  dis- 
sipated by  ill-considered  aid,  prompted  by  sentiment 
or  enthusiasm,  but  careful  investigation  and  skill- 
ful analysis  of  the  situation  precedes  and  controls 
appropriations.  All  this  enables  us  to  say  that  no 
worthy  undertaking  need  go  without  timely  and 
necessary  help,  and  the  Church,  by  her  large  and  in- 
creasing support  of  this  work,  has  given  the  mandate 
for  enlargement  and  progress  throughout  our  whole 
field. 

But  above  all,  I  must  say,  the  skillful  and  capable 
superintendence  of  those  in  charge  of  the  work  has 
inspired  in  all  parts  of  the  field  a  hopefulness  and 
aggressiveness  of  which  the  fathers  never  knew. 
Indeed,  with  the  appointment  of  our  Secretaries  for 
the  Boards,  the  enlargement,  rapid  development  and 
success  of  our  General  Synod  really  begins;  and  I 
for  one  would,  on  this  happy  anniversary  occasion, 
like  to  lay  on  the  brow  of  each  of  the  splendid  men 
now  serving  the  Boards,  and  to  whom  we  owe  so 
much,  an  ivy  crown  signalizing  achievement  and 
victory.  Throughout  our  General  Synod  there  is 
a  sense  of  security,  a  spirit  of  confidence  regarding 
anything  we  undertake,  because  it  is  known  that. 


CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  aQI 

wherever  organized,  there  is  behind  the  weakest 
flock,  a  strong  and  experienced  agency  to  which 
young  churches  may  appeal  and  do  appeal  for  the 
support  which  will  not  fail  them  and  which  spells 
success. 

III.  Our  liberality,  numbers  and  growing  power 
as  a  Church  are  the  fruit  of  the  creation  of  the 
Boards. 

We  have  long  passed  the  day  of  small  things.  A 
sense  of  the  wideness  of  our  field  now  possesses  us 
and  inspires  to  mighty  effort ;  the  possibilities  of  the 
future  fire  with  the  purpose  to  make  them  realities, 
to  reap  our  harvests  and  enter  into  possession  of  our 
rightful  heritage. 

Our  congregations  are  now  twice  as  many  as  at 
the  beginning,  but  the  growth  of  the  congregations 
themselves  in  numbers,  intelligence  and  efficiency 
has  been  much  more  remarkable.  Our  ministerial 
supply  has  doubled  in  numbers  and  more.  Our  com- 
municants have  multiplied  threefold,  and  the  little 
more  than  90,000  members  are  grown  into  a  host  of 
280,000  souls. 

In  the  period  of  time  we  are  considering  our  an- 
nual benevolence  has  increased  from  $80,000  to 
$726,000,  or  nearly  a  tenfold  advance.  One  city 
now,  like  York,  Harrisburg  or  Baltimore,  gives  as 
much  for  benevolent  objects  as  the  whole  General 
Synod  did  then  altogether. 

Whilst  in  1868  we  appropriated  $1800  to  Church 


292  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

Extension  work,  this  biennium  now  closing  we  ap- 
propriate $200,000.  When  we  began  we  had  assets 
handed  us  of  $10,000,  mostly  in  worthless  notes, 
now  our  assets  sum  up  the  immense  sum  of  $700,000. 
Instead  of  the  $50,000,  which  figure  the  church 
then  set  as  the  goal  to  be  reached  for  Church  Ex- 
tension, and  which  never  was  reached  under  the  old 
system,  one-fifth  of  that  amount  alone  being  real- 
ized— we  have  under  modern  methods  and  condi- 
tions raised,  during  the  period  whose  completion  we 
now  celebrate,  the  great  sum  of  $1,500,000. 

But  in  our  felicitation  we  must  not  forget  the 
credit  due  the  toilers  who  have  gone  before  to  re- 
ceive the  promised  crown.  When  we  compare  our 
present  confidence  with  the  timidity  and  fear  of  the 
early  days  it  is  with  no  spirit  of  contempt  of  them 
or  desire  to  belittle  what  they  have  done,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  to  give  due  honor  to  the  fathers  who 
labored  without  a  tithe  of  the  encouragements  God 
has  given  us  and  who  rarely  felt  the  thrill  of  as- 
surance and  sense  of  power  that  now  fire  us  as  we 
carry  to  grand  accomplishment  the  plans  they 
formed.  We  have  built  on  the  foundations  they  laid. 
What  I  personally  am  and  have  been  enabled  to  do 
of  good  has  been  owing  to  the  humble,  godly  man  I 
called  father,  who  sacrificed  so  cheerfully  and  en- 
dured so  patiently  the  limitations  of  his  lot  that  his 
son  might  enter  well  equipped  upon  the  larger  things 
of  which  he  longingly  dreamed.    In  our  Church  Ex- 


CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  293 

tension  work  some  names  must  always  be  held  in 
honor.  Lochman,  Baiim,  Lilly,  Smyser,  Emmet, 
Gotwald,  Goodlin,  Zimmerman,  Richard,  are  still 
with  us  in  spirit  and  sympathize  with  our  joy.  The 
tale  we  tell  is  one  whose  hope  often  made  their 
heart-beats  quicken  and  cheeks  glow  in  anticipation. 
Thank  God  for  His  great  work,  for  the  joy  of  serv- 
ice and  the  certainty  of  His  "Well  done,"  when  the 
evening  comes. 


Ill 

OUR  COMMANDER  AND  COMMISSION 


OUR  COMMANDER  AND  COMMISSION. 

W,   E.   STAHLER^  D.D. 

It  is  more  than  nice  to  have  a  part  in  this  great 
celebration — and  especially  to  stand  here  in  the  place 
so  long  and  so  greatly  honored  by  our  beloved  Dr. 
Gilbert — and  here,  where  he  is  so  surely  with  us  in 
spirit — here  where  the  aroma  of  his  sweet  character 
and  his  saintly  life  and  his  splendid  service  steals 
upon  every  one  of  us — here  where  his  revered  voice, 
were  he  still  in  the  body,  would  add  force  to  the 
message  we  are  molding,  and  his  honored  hand 
would  lend  safe  guidance  to  the  larger  service  we 
are  shaping — here  to  greet  you  and  to  speak  a  few 
words  of  counsel,  however  feeble  and  faltering,  and 
to  have  some  little  part  in  the  gladsome  retrospects 
and  the  glowing  prospects  of  this  notable  occasion. 

We  have  just  heard  the  eloquent  representatives 
of  the  Foreign  Board  and  the  Home  Board,  and  now 
I  come  before  you  in  the  name  of  the  Board  of 
Church  Extension;  but  yet  we  all  represent  one 
work.  I  must  not  over-emphasize  mine,  to  the  dis- 
paragement of  theirs — nor  they  theirs,  to  the 
minimizing  of  mine.  Nay,  let  us  be  wary  even  how 
we  bandy  these  possessive  pronouns,  and  not  think 
so  much  in  terms  of  mine  and  thine,  as  of  ours. 

(297) 


298  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

For,  manifestly,  we  are  all  the  servants  of  one 
Master;  all  of  us  the  representatives  of  one  work; 
all  the  agents  of  one  commission — even  that  great 
commission  of  the  risen  Lord,  which  glorifies  these 
post-Easter  days  and  which  embraces  in  one  com- 
rade-band all  His  witness-workers,  who  obey  its 
bidding  to  girdle  the  globe  with  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel,  withholding  neither  voice  nor  hand  until  all 
the  kingdoms  of  the  wide  world  have  become  the  one 
world-wide  kingdom  of  the  living  Christ.  My 
Board  is  only  one  of  the  agencies  for  the  execution 
of  this  imperative  commission.  ...  In  motive,  in 
aim,  in  responsibility,  and  in  ultimate  outcome  we 
are  all  linked  together  in  a  fellowship  of  work  and 
hope,  which  man  did  not  fashion  and  which  men 
dare  not  frustrate.  .  .  .  All,  therefore,  have  equal 
claim  upon  our  sympathy  and  support,  and  we  can- 
not discriminate  against  one  or  the  other  without 
disloyalty  to  our  commission  and  disobedience  to 
our  Commander. 

And  there,  my  friends,  there  is  the  point  on  which 
to  lay  the  finger  of  emphasis,  in  all  our  appeals  for 
this  work  and  for  helpers  in  it.  You  can  marshal 
your  arguments  on  the  basis  of  love  and  charity,  of 
humanity  and  patriotism,  of  commerce  and  civiliza- 
tion, of  education  and  emancipation,  but  these  all 
fall  short  of  the  end  sought  and  leave  the  hearts  and 
wills  of  men  uncaptured,  until  you  ground  them 
upon  the  one  thing  that  is  fundamental  and  final — 


OUR   COMMANDER   AND    COMMISSION.  299 

the  authority  of  our  Lord — the  abiding,  compelling, 
all  dominating  Lordship  of  Him  who  says,  ''Ye  shall 
be  witnesses  unto  me,  both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all 
Judea  and  in  Samaria  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth — Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  make 
disciples  of  all  nations."  Oh !  what  a  difference  there 
would  be  in  the  Church's  attitude  toward  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world,  if  the  Lordship  of  Jesus 
Christ  had  that  dominant  place  in  her  faith  and 
that  compelling  force  in  her  aims  and  her  work 
which  it  ought  to  have — if  His  plain  and  imperative 
"Go  ye"  were  sufficient  nowadays,  as  they  were  in 
those  first  years,  to  make  disciple  and  missionary 
synonymous  words.  Campbell  Morgan,  in  one  of 
his  Atlanta  addresses,  said  that  the  evangel  pro- 
claims first  of  all  the  Lordship  of  Christ.  "If  any- 
one ask  me,  'Is  it  not  true  that  our  first  business  is 
to  preach  the  cross  of  Christ?'  I  answer  no!  I  do 
not  think  so.  I  believe  that  the  first  note  of  the 
true  evangelism  is  that  of  announcing  to  men 
the  Lordship  of  Christ.  That  was  the  apostolic 
method.  .  .  . 

"Confronting,  as  they  did,  unbelief  and  skepticism 
and  curiosity  and  surging  sorrow  and  binding  sin 
and  masterful  passion  and  everything  else,  Peter 
and  Paul  cried  to  men,  'Jesus  is  Lord!'  That  was 
the  first  note  of  the  evangel,  as  it  still  must  be.  We, 
therefore,  have  to  confront  this  age  and  say  to  it, 
'There  is  one  king,  one  Lord,  one  Master,  one  seat 


300  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

of  authority,  one  tribunal  to  which  men  may  make 
their  appeal,  One  who  upholds  in  His  hands  the  even 
balance  of  Justice,  from  whose  verdict  there  can  be 
no  appeal,  and  who  is  at  this  moment  The  Lord, 
Jesus  Christ.'  "... 

There  is  the  one  irresistible  plea  for  the  more 
speedy  and  successful  accomplishment  of  our  three- 
fold task — the  one  compelling  impulse  for  enlisting 
the  hearts  of  men  in  the  work  beyond  the  seas;  for 
winning  deeper  sympathy  and  larger  support  in  the 
work  of  evangelizing  our  own  dear  land;  and  for 
securing  a  truer  appreciation  and  more  generous 
co-operation  in  the  work  of  providing  chapels  and 
churches  for  our  infant  congregations — in  which 
they  may  reach  their  manhood  with  the  least  delay 
and  to  the  best  advantage;  and  from  which  may 
issue  to  the  masses  round  about  voices  that  will 
sweetly  echo  to  them  the  voice  divine,  and  streams  of 
loving  helpfulness  that  will  carry  out  to  other  still 
waste  places  the  same  gracious  gifts  that  have 
helped  them  to  blossom  and  bear  fruit  in  the  garden 
of  grace. 

There  are  a  score  of  good  reasons  why  you  and 
all  our  people  should  give  steady  and  generous  sup- 
port to  this  Church  Erection  Board  of  ours ;  but,  to 
my  mind,  they  must  all  give  place  to  the  Lordship 
of  Jesus  Christ — to  the  supreme  authority  of  Him 
who,  committing  His  work  to  the  hands  of  His 
followers,  bade  them  run  the  lines  of  His  kingdom 


OUR   COMMANDER    AND   COMMISSION.         301 

out  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth,  beginning,  how- 
ever, at  Jerusalem,  and  thus  witnessing  for  Him  at 
home  and  abroad. 

Here  are  our  "Jerusalem  and  all  Judea,"  and  it 
is  an  essential  part  of  our  witnessing  for  Him,  here 
in  the  homeland,  when  we  help  erect  the  churches 
which  help  win  this  land  for  the  gospel  and  the 
gospel's  Christ — the  churches  whose  countless  spires 
are  so  many  fingers  directing  the  nation's  gaze 
aloft  and  reminding  this  proud  and  prosperous  peo- 
ple that,  republic  though  we  are,  we,  too,  have  a 
King,  even  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords, 
whose  throne  is  in  the  heavens  and  whose  kingdom 
ruleth  over  us  and  all — the  churches  which,  every- 
where and  always,  stand  for  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  His  righteousness,  in  every  corner  fostering  the 
forces  that  make  for  goodness  and  that  bring  con- 
fusion upon  every  foe  of  the  Bible,  the  Church,  the 
Sabbath  day,  the  family  and  good  government — 
the  one  institution  in  the  land  that  has  no  other 
aim  than  to  speed  on  the  day  when,  side  by  side  with 
the  gospel  of  liberty,  all  her  people  will  place  the 
"glorious  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,"  hailing  these  two 
as  the  twin  keystones  in  the  arch  of  our  national 
greatness  and  welfare. 

He  does  a  good  thing  who  builds  libraries  here 
and  there,  and  thus  opens  avenues  of  intellectual 
pleasure  and  profit  to  many  otherwise  excluded  from 
them.     He  does  a  better  thing  who  founds  a  home 


302  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

for  the  orphaned,  where  love  leads  the  fatherless 
child  up  to  the  days  and  the  ways  of  self-help ;  or  an 
asylum  for  the  afflicted,  where  the  gentle  hands  of 
trained  ministry  restore  to  health  and  strength,  or 
smooth  the  pillow  of  weary  suffering.  A  still 
better  work  is  his  who  generously  endows  a  school 
or  college,  and  thus  opens  the  door  of  large  and 
varied  opportunity  to  a  host  of  young  men  and 
women,  who  else  could  but  have  dreamed  about  it. 
But  he  does  best  of  all  who  builds  a  chapel  or 
church — God's  lighthouse — lifting  warning  flash 
and  helpful  gleam  above  the  sunken  reefs  and  hid- 
den shoals,  the  fatal  currents  and  storm-tossed  waves 
of  the  national  sea,  guiding  the  good  ship  of  state 
into  the  tranquil  waters  of  safety  and  serenity.  In- 
herently better  than  all  others  and  better  in  its  tem- 
poral and  eternal  issues,  is  the  work  of  him  who 
builds  the  house  of  God,  where  His  gospel  will  be 
proclaimed  and  His  sacraments  administered — 
where  the  children  will  be  gathered  in  from  high- 
way and  byway,  to  be  shown  the  way  of  life — where 
young  and  old  will  be  safeguarded  by  influences  and 
agencies  that  make  for  individual  welfare,  for  com- 
munity uplift  and  for  national  righteousness — the 
one  agency  in  all  the  land  which,  in  season  and  out 
of  season,  by  work  and  prayer  and  gift,  trains  the 
people  to  speed  on  the  day  when,  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  and  from  lake  to  gulf,  the  banner  of  the 
King  of  kings  shall  float  side  by  side  with  the  stars 


OUR   COMMANDER    AND   COMMISSION.         303 

and  stripes,  righteousness  being  the  sure  foundation 
of  our  institutions  and  the  crowning  glory  of  our 
Hberty. 

And  to  everyone  not  blessed  of  God  with  ability 
to  erect  church  or  chapel  by  himself  alone — as  many 
a  saint  of  God  has  done — but  yet  blessed  with  some 
ability  for  this  work — to  every  such  one  comes  this 
Board  of  Church  Extension,  offering  multiplied  op- 
portunity for  finding  helpful  place  and  part  in  this 
work.  By  varied  funds  and  by  manifold  variety  of 
plan  and  method,  it  offers  to  every  grade  of  financial 
ability  the  blessed  privilege,  by  co-operation  in  its 
labors,  of  obedience  to  our  great  commission — that 
commission  forevermore  imperative  by  the  demon- 
strated Lordship  and  unquestionable  by  the  manifest 
authority  of  One  risen  from  the  dead,  ascended  unto 
heaven  and  divinely  attested  by  the  promised  Spirit 
of  truth  and  power. 

The  Lordship  is  His,  fellow-christians,  and  the 
obedience  must  be  ours.  Nothing  else  will  avail 
without  that.  All  in  vain  the  visions  and  ecstasies, 
the  revelations  and  inspirations,  the  soaring  emotions 
and  the  eloquent  jubilates  of  this  high  mount  of 
privilege,  if  they  do  not  send  you  and  me  back  to  the 
valleys  with  our  wills  surrendered  to  His  will,  whose 
glory  it  was  to  say :  "Lo !  O  God,  I  come  to  do  Thy 
will !"  .  .  .  "Out  of  that  root  dutiful  grows  the  life 
beautiful — the  life  radically  and  radiantly  true  to 
God — the  only  life  that  can  be  lived  in  both  worlds." 


IV 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  EXTENSION 
TO  HOME  MISSIONS 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  EXTENSION 
TO  HOME  MISSIONS. 

J.    M.    FRANCIS,   D.D. 

The  Story  of  Church  Extension  and  Home  Mis- 
sions is  the  story  of  the  triumph  and  expansion  of 
Lutheranism  in  this  country  for  more  than  forty 
years.  So  closely  and  intimately  related  have  been 
these  Boards  that  it  is  impossible  to  speak  of  the  one 
without  implying  the  other. 

Together  they  have  gone  into  the  States  and 
Territories  of  the  great  West,  into  the  hundreds  of 
towns  and  cities  that  have  been  developed.  Their 
influence  has  been  felt  in  the  institutions  of  learning 
which  have  been  established  and  into  the  Synods 
that  have  been  formed.  They  have  given  help 
toward  keeping  the  home  life  pure,  to  the  training 
of  children,  and  a  thousand  and  one  things  that  can 
never  be  put  down  in  dollars  and  cents  or  enumer- 
ated, have  been  accomplished  and  inspired  through 
tlie  help  and  influence  of  these  strong  arms  of  the 
Church. 

We  have  been  astonished  as  we  study  the  splendid 
work  of  these  Boards  that  so  much  has  been  ac- 
complished and  so  well  done  with  such  limited  means 
at  their  disposal.    The  careful  management  by  which 

(307) 


308  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

the  funds  of  our  church  have  been  administered  re- 
flects great  and  lasting  credit  upon  the  faithful  mem- 
bers of  the  Boards  who  have  given  their  valuable 
time  and  free  services,  and  still  more  upon  the 
ability  and  fidelity  of  its  executive  officers. 

In  looking  up  the  history  of  these  Boards,  I  find 
that  Home  Missions  is  the  first  in  the  order  of  time, 
and  therefore  deserves  rightful  recognition  and  pre- 
eminence. No  one  can  say  she  has  not  lived  up  to 
the  full  measure  of  her  exalted  privileges  and  her 
splendid  opportunities  in  planting  our  church 
throughout  this  v^onderful  land  and  claiming  for 
God  the  magnificent  heritage  He  has  given  us. 

But  side  by  side  with  this  noble  work  of  Home 
Missions  is  the  splendid  record  of  the  Board  of 
Church  Extension.  Perhaps  it  may  not  be  too  much 
to  say  that  no  work  for  Lutheranism  appeals  more 
to  the  business  man  and  has  been  more  valuable  or 
popular  than  that  of  Church  Extension.  It  has  been 
a  large  factor  in  making  our  work  in  this  country 
permanent.  To  the  many  appeals  that  came  from 
our  great  centers  of  commercial  and  political  life 
the  Board  has  gladly  responded,  and  has  shared  in 
the  erection  of  chapels  that  have  prepared  the  way 
for  some  of  our  now  largest  and  strongest  churches. 
Church  Extension  has  aided  in  the  East  to 
strengthen  the  things  that  remain,  and  in  the  West 
to  drive  the  stakes  that  mark  the  advance  of  our 
Christian   missionaries.     It  has  helped  to   furnish 


THE    RELATION   TO   HOME    MISSIONS.         3O9 

spiritual  homes  for  our  Lutheran  people  coming  to 
us  from  beyond  the  seas  and  has  enabled  our  chil- 
dren in  their  emigration  westward  to  carry  with 
them  the  house  of  God.  Is  it  not  true,  that  of  the 
many  congregations  that  within  the  past  forty  years 
God  has  permitted  our  church  to  organize,  one-half 
would  have  failed  for  want  of  the  comfort  and  the 
grace  of  spiritual  homes  in  which  to  gather  had  not 
the  Church  in  her  wisdom  inaugurated  and  sustained 
the  work  of  the  Board  of  Church  Extension? 

In  the  proper  expansion  of  our  work,  Church  Ex- 
tension was  found  to  be  indispensable.  This  is 
shown  by  the  very  fact  of  the  organization  of  the 
Board  of  Church  Extension.  If  it  had  not  been 
necessary,  it  would  never  have  been  organized.  The 
very  demand  for  church  buildings  and  the  necessity 
of  some  supervision  of  this  work  were  the  apparent 
causes  of  the  establishment  of  this  Board. 

It  is  now  perfectly  understood  that  no  ground  is 
truly  won  until  the  missionary  has  become  the  pas- 
tor, and  the  audience  the  church;  and  that  this  can 
be  assured  only  when  the  appropriate  and  permanent 
church  home  is  secured.  With  the  message  from  the 
man  must  be  found  the  place  for  the  altar.  Thus 
the  work  of  Church  Extension  and  the  agencies  for 
its  promotion  stand  side  by  side  with  that  of  send- 
ing out  the  missionary  and  providing  for  his  sup- 
port. Until  this  is  secured  his  enterprise  is  preca- 
rious and  must  largely  be  an  experiment.    The  first 


3IO  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

care  of  every  missionary  of  the  cross  has  been  to 
provide  a  gathering  place  for  the  flock  as  an  external 
symbol  of  the  presence  of  the  Church  of  God.  We 
may  send  out  a  thousand  missionaries,  but  if  they 
have  no  money  to  build  a  church  they  vv^ill  never 
do  much  in  a  permanent  establishment  of  the  Church. 
This  is  easily  seen  by  contrasting  the  relative 
progress  of  two  missions,  one  with  a  permanent  and 
satisfactory  house  of  worship  soon  after  its  estab- 
lishment, and  the  other  with  no  local  habitation  and 
only  a  name.  Through  the  critical  years  of  its  life, 
the  disappointing  and  embarrassing  struggles  of  the 
latter  have  been  found  to  be  sufficient  grounds  for 
assisting  every  new  congregation  in  securing  a  house 
of  worship  as  soon  as  possible.  The  Board  of 
Home  Missions  may  send  out  a  young  man  who 
may  be  talented,  earnest,  industrious,  and  be  given 
a  good  support,  but  until  he  has  a  church  building 
in  which  he  may  gather  his  people  for  worship,  his 
task  will  be  an  up-hill  work.  Many  a  promising 
church  enterprise  has  failed  for  want  of  such  favor- 
able conditions.  Until  located  and  housed  there  is 
no  sense  of  assurance  of  congregational  stability. 
A  good  building  is  a  strong  bond  of  union.  It  is  a 
standing  advertisement  and  a  constant  appeal  for 
recognition.  Persons  looking  for  a  church  home, 
especially  in  our  cities,  are  powerfully  drawn  by  the 
building  in  which  the  church  is  located.  They  want 
the  church  as  well  as  the  preacher. 


THE    RELATION    TO   HOME   MISSIONS.         3 II 

It  is  true,  as  another  has  said,  that  the  good  peo- 
ple of  a  mission  may  piously  gather  in  a  hall  or  an 
empty  store-room,  and,  like  the  patriarch  of  old, 
find  a  Bethel  there  with  ascending  and  descending 
angels  testifying  to  the  nearness  of  heaven  and 
earth,  but  even  Jacob  found  it  a  stony  pillow  and 
escaped  from  it  as  rapidly  as  possible.  God's  Spirit 
is  not  confined  to  consecrated  walls  or  sacred  shrines 
— that  is  true — but  a  man's  spirit  needs  every  help 
that  can  be  had. 

In  a  very  real  sense  Church  Extension  conditions 
the  success  and  progress  of  Home  Missions.  Iri 
other  words,  the  two  Boards,  although  independent 
organizations  and  apparently  independent  in  their 
work,  are  so  intimate  in  their  relations  that  it  is 
absolutely  impossible  for  either  to  make  any  ex- 
tended progress  without  a  corresponding  advance 
on  the  part  of  the  other. 

Home  ]\Iissions  cannot  develop  satisfactorily  un- 
less properly  supported  by  Church  Extension,  and 
Church  Extension  cannot  move  faster  than  the  prog- 
ress of  Home  Missions  requires.  The  multiplication 
of  church  buildings  is  entirely  conditioned  by  the 
number  of  new  organizations.  Therefore,  an  inef- 
ficient administration  of  Home  Missions  simply 
blocks  the  advance  of  Church  Extension,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  an  inadequate  support  of  Home  Mis- 
sions by  the  Board  of  Church  Extension  simply  de- 
lays the  larger  advance  of  Home  Missions. 


312  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

Neither  of  these  Boards  can  advance  without  the 
other.  They  are  entirely  inter-dependent;  that  is,  the 
rate  of  progress  is  determined  entirely  by  the  ad- 
vance of  the  least  progressive.  As  in  an  army,  the 
straggler  determines  the  speed  of  the  whole  ad- 
vance. Therefore,  in  case  one  of  these  Boards 
should  be  embarrassed  in  its  progress,  it  not  only 
hinders  the  advance  of  its  own  work  in  the  Church, 
but  it  blocks  the  way  to  greater  progress  on  the  part 
of  the  other. 

In  this  day  of  centralization  and  unification  of 
independent  trades,  industries  and  commercial  in- 
stitutions, a  question  is  suggested,  whether  the  con- 
solidation of  the  two  might  not  be  desirable  and 
feasible. 

Has  not  the  time  come  when  a  new  departure  is 
needed  to  form  wider  plans  for  the  work  of  spread- 
ing the  kingdom  of  Christ  ?  The  Church  should  no 
longer  be  afraid  of  doing  something  out  of  the  or- 
dinary. The  plans  in  operation  at  the  present  are 
wide  compared  with  those  held  by  the  Church  even 
in  the  recent  past,  but  still  they  are  narrow,  too  nar- 
row to  be  in  harmony  with  the  great  purposes  of 
Christ. 

It  is  said  when  the  great  Michael  Angelo  once 
went  into  his  class-room  to  instruct  his  students, 
he  came  to  the  work  of  one  that  showed  some  excel- 
lence in  the  mere  technique  of  execution,  but  was 
narrow  and  crowded  in  outline,  and  he  wrote  but 


THE   RELATION   TO   HOME    MISSIONS.         313 

one  word  as  his  criticism,  "Amplius,"  wider.  Is  not 
that  the  word  that  the  Lord  is  writing  on  the  work 
of  the  Church  to-day?  "Wider,  zvider,"  should  be 
our  cry,  as  we  form  our  plans  for  the  work  of  the 
future. 

If  the  Church  is  to  meet  the  changed  conditions 
of  the  times,  she  must  change  her  methods  and  pos- 
sibly add  new  methods.  Has  she  not  been  a  little 
slow  to  respond  to  the  marked  advancement  of  this 
age  as  to  the  methods  and  means  of  accomplishing 
her  work?  She  should  have  been  the  first,  as  her 
work  is  the  most  important.  If  our  way  of  doing 
our  work  now  is  not  the  wisest  and  best,  let  us  be 
willing  to  try  a  change.  All  the  methods  of  busi- 
ness and  science  have  changed,  but  we  seem  inclined 
to  move  on  in  the  same  old  way  forever.  Custom 
does  not  make  law.  The  will  of  the  Lord  only 
makes  law,  and  it  is  a  departure  that  the  Church 
needs  especially  to  make,  to  shake  off  the  fear  of 
man  and  to  enter  into  the  liberty  wherewith  the  Son 
hath  made  us  free. 

I  am  moved  to  make  this  suggestion  because  of 
the  letters  received  and  opinions  given  by  prominent 
laymen  and  ministers  who  feel  that  the  time  has 
come  when  the  Home  Mission  and  Church  Exten- 
sion Boards  should  resolve  into  their  true  relations 
and  be  one  as  they  were  in  the  beginning.  This 
would  put  us  in  the  front  rank  with  other  denomina- 
tions, for  mission  work.     "Since  the  union  of  our 


314  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

Boards,"  says  the  Presbyterian  Board,  "our  work 
has  gone  steadily  forward."  From  the  Methodist 
Church  we  are  told,  "Since  the  amalgamation  of 
our  Boards  the  triumph  and  expansion  of  Method- 
ism is  assured."  So  with  the  Reformed  Church, 
and  others.    Why  not  the  great  Lutheran  Church  ? 

In  the  amalgamation  of  our  Boards,  it  is  appar- 
ent to  everyone,  that  there  would  be  a  saving  to  the 
cost  of  administration.  Certainly  no  business  house 
would  conduct  two  establishments  along  the  same 
line  when  one  could  do  it,  and  the  Church  should  be 
as  wise.  To  urge  upon  our  missions  the  need  of 
economy  and  at  the  same  time  continue  two  Boards 
that  could  accomplish  the  same  work,  from  a  cen- 
tral point,  is  not  fruitful  of  confidence  or  good 
results. 

One  Board  could  direct  the  work  of  both  far 
more  intelligently  and  with  a  wiser  discrimination 
than  two  Boards  acting  independently.  This  would 
avoid  all  confusion ;  and  the  matter  of  authority,  for 
which  both  Boards  are  asking  in  the  establishment 
of  new  work,  would  be  fully  adjusted.  There  would 
be  unity  of  interest  and  no  possible  friction. 

I  have  nothing  definite  to  suggest,  but  to  show 
that  it  is  feasible,  let  us  suppose  a  Central  Board 
of  eleven  members  which  might  meet  once  a  month. 
Let  this  Board  consist  of  a  Home  Mission  committee 
of  five  members  and  a  like  number  as  a  Church 
Extension  committee.    These  committees  could  have 


THE   RELATION   TO   HOME   MISSIONS.         315 

the  work  of  each  department  in  hand.  The  territory 
could  be  districted  and  the  Secretary  appointed  for 
a  territory  could  represent  both  interests. 

The  policy  of  such  a  Board  of  Home  Missions 
and  Church  Extension  could  carefully  scrutinize 
every  investment  of  funds,  and  it  would  be  cordially 
endorsed  by  every  missionary  on  the  field  who  would 
feel  safe  in  the  wise  and  brotherly  hands  of  such  a 
Central  Board. 

As  a  usual  thing  these  Boards  help  the  same  mis- 
sion— both  the  man  and  the  church.  A  Central 
Board  could  prevent  many  local  building  commit- 
tees and  trustees  of  our  missions  from  going  ahead 
and  building  often  in  utter  disregard  of  business 
sense.  Patriotic  pride  and  denominational  exuber- 
ance to  build  for  posterity  is  right,  but  should  have 
a  reasonable  limit. 

Many  of  our  mission  churches,  by  not  having 
proper  guidance  and  overreaching  themselves,  have 
mortgages  on  them  out  of  all  proportion  to  their 
cost.  The  missionary  suffers.  The  church  benevo- 
lences fall  off.  The  congregation  is  paralyzed  and 
the  credit  of  the  mission  suffers  in  the  community. 
This  might  not  occur  if  we  had  a  central  board  of 
control. 

Too  often  our  missions  are  occupied  with  the 
question,  "How  can  we  raise  our  interest  and  reduce 
our  indebtedness?"  and  often  the  missionary  has  to 
be  the  preacher,  evangelist,  money  raiser,  poor  com- 


3l6  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

mittee,  mortgage  pulverizer — anything  under  heaven 
but  edifier  of  the  saints  and  winner  of  souls.  This 
is  not  rising  to  the  level  of  our  Master's  teaching. 
Our  missionary  activity  as  a  church  must  not 
falter.  Is  it  not  time  to  awake  to  the  spirit  of  the 
age  in  which  she  lives  and  the  vigorous  and  expan- 
sive work  to  which  God  in  His  providence  is  calling 
us?  The  hand  of  the  Master  is  pointing  onward. 
His  voice  is  ever  saying,  "Forward !" 


V 

THE  Vs/ORK  IN  OUR  CITIES. 


THE  WORK  IN  OUR  CITIES. 

J,   J.   YOUNG^  D.D. 

Our  church  cannot  lay  too  much  stress  upon  the 
vast  significance  of  Church  Extension  in  our  cities, 
especially  our  larger  cities.  When  we  turn  for  a 
moment  to  those  noble  servants  of  the  Lord,  who 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  Church,  we  will 
find  that  they  began  in  the  large,  or  first-class  cities. 
When  Christ  sent  forth  His  followers,  to  make  dis- 
ciples of  all  nations.  He  did  not  allow  them  to  begin 
where  they  pleased ;  no.  He  did  not  even  permit  them 
to  follow  the  common  rule  known  as  "Charity  be- 
gins at  home,"  but  He  ordered  them  to  begin  in 
the  capital  city  of  the  nation,  instead  of  their  Gali- 
lean homes.  A  careful  reader  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  will  soon  notice  how  the  great  cities  of  the 
Roman  Empire  were  picked  out  as  centers  for  the 
propagation  of  Christianity.  This  is,  beyond  all 
doubt,  the  most  reasonable,  successful  and  Scriptural 
way  of  extending  the  Christian  Church. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  there  are  many  people 
in  our  churches,  as  well  as  out  of  our  churches, 
who  have  no  adequate  conception  of  the  relation  of 
our  larger  cities,  such  as  New  York,  Chicago,  Phila- 
delphia,  St.  Louis,  Boston  and  Baltimore,  to  our 

(319) 


320  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

country.  Let  us,  as  members  of  the  great  Evangeli- 
cal Lutheran  Church  and  as  citizens  of  the  fairest 
country  upon  this  globe,  remember  that  cities  play 
the  most  important  part  in  the  history  of  nations. 
Cities  made  and  ruined  the  great  and  mighty  Roman 
Empire.  From  remote  ages  the  destinies  of  nations 
depended  upon  their  large  cities.  This  being  so,  it 
behooves  us,  both  as  Christians  and  citizens,  to  take 
this  undeniable  fact  to  heart,  be  on  our  guard,  and 
do  all  in  our  power  to  keep  our  cities  as  pure  as  pos- 
sible. If  we  suffer  them  to  become  hotbeds  of  cor- 
ruption they  will  send  forth  germs  that  will  be  more 
destructive  than  the  white  plague  or  Asiatic  cholera. 
As  Christians  and  citizens  we  cannot  be  too  much 
concerned  about  the  moral  welfare  and  the  religious 
condition  of  our  cities. 

Look,  for  instance,  at  Greater  New  York.  Here 
you  find  a  vast  collection  of  heterogeneous  forces. 
Whilst  it  is  highly  probable  that  we  have  in  New 
York  City  the  very  best  that  civilization  can  afford, 
it  is  also  highly  probable  that  we  find  there  the 
worst  elements  of  barbaric  remains.  At  the  present 
time  we  have  not  only  tides  of  immigration  pour- 
ing into  our  city  from  almost  every  nation  upon 
earth,  but  we  have  also  many  coming  to  us  from 
our  own  rural  districts.  Among  those  from  our 
own  country  you  will  find  sons,  and  also  daughters, 
from  our  own  dear  Lutheran  Church.  Some  for- 
sake the  safe  and  healthy  rural  home  to  enjoy  the 


THE   WORK    IN    OUR   CITIES.  32 1 

vanities  and  frivolities  of  a  city  life ;  others,  to 
amass  immense  fortune.  It  is  highly  probable  that 
the  latter  may  attract  more  than  the  former.  There 
are  people  to-day  who  seem  to  think  that  time  and 
eternity  depend  upon  wealth,  and  wealth  alone. 
They  become  so  devoted  to  it  that  they  fear,  love 
and  trust  in  it  above  everything  else.  It  is  the  latter 
that  makes  our  cities  centers  of  wealth,  as  well  as 
population.  This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  since 
1850,  at  which  time  one-half  of  the  wealth  of  the 
United  States  was  rural,  the  rural  wealth  has  in- 
creased but  fourfold,  whilst  the  wealth  of  our  cities 
has  increased  sixteenfold. 

There  are  people  who  describe  the  life  of  our 
large  cities  as  "progress"  and  "advancement,"  and 
they  do  not  hesitate  to  set  it  forth  in  the  most  glow- 
ing and  captivating  pictures.  Others  are  not  quite 
so  jubilant;  they  look  upon  it  as  demoralizing  and 
degrading.  Whilst  this  latter  view  may  be  con- 
sidered somewhat  pessimistic,  there  is  nevertheless 
much  truth  in  it.  There  is,  beyond  all  doubt,  a 
strong  downward  tendency  which  must  be  coun- 
teracted and  stemmed.  Some  seem  to  be  under  the 
impression  that  this  can  be  accomplished  through 
ethical  culture;  others  through  independent  mis- 
sionary activities,  and  still  others,  through  evangel- 
istic campaigns.  Though  there  are  quite  a  number 
of  people  in  our  country  who  have  imbibed  this 
view,  we,  nevertheless,  believe  that  so  long  as  the 
21 


322  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

unchurched  in  our  cities  are  not  brought  into  com- 
munion with  the  old  estabhshed  churches,  or  are 
organized  into  new  congregations,  that  long  will 
they  be  swept  along  with  the  downward  tendency 
and  become  a  menace  to  our  city  life  and  to  the  wel- 
fare of  our  country.  The  services  of  God's  house, 
and  the  divinely-appointed  means  of  grace  dispensed 
there,  are  just  as  necessary  for  the  salvation  of  man 
to-day  as  they  were  at  the  time  when  the  Lord  insti- 
tuted the  same. 

When  we  look  a  little  closer  at  the  inhabitants  of 
our  larger  cities  we  will  find  that  a  goodly  number 
belong  to  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.  Thou- 
sands of  them  are  unchurched,  however,  and  it  is 
our  duty  to  look  after  them,  and  where  they  cannot 
be  gathered  into  the  old  churches  new  ones  must 
be  erected  for  them.  Many  of  these  unchurched 
Lutherans  are  born  in  this  country,  and  are  just  the 
very  material  we  need  to  establish  strong  English- 
speaking  congregations.  Others  have  come,  and 
many  are  still  coming,  from  Lutheran  countries  of 
Europe.  The  fact  that  Lutheran  services  are  con- 
ducted in  ten  different  languages  in  New  York,  and 
in  thirteen  different  languages  in  Chicago,  shows 
that  there  must  be  a  large  Lutheran  population  in 
these  two  cities.  This  foreign  element  is  the  basis  of 
our  supply,  which  in  richness,  soundness  and  inex- 
haustibleness  far  surpasses  that  of  any  other  church 
in  this  country.    These  must  be  churched  by  us. 


THE   WORK    IN   OUR    CITIES.  323 

In  locating  a  church  in  a  large  city  the  houses, 
from  which  the  material  for  the  congregation  to  be 
organized  is  to  be  drawn,  dare  not  be  overlooked. 
Whilst  civilized  people  generally  live  in  houses, 
there  is,  nevertheless,  considerable  difference  in  the 
houses  they  occupy.  This  is  just  as  true  of  large 
cities  as  it  is  of  towns  and  rural  districts.  The  dwell- 
ings of  a  large  city,  such  as  New  York,  for  instance, 
may  be  divided  into  tenement  houses,  flats,  apart- 
ment houses  and  private  dwellings.  The  first  are 
occupied  by  the  masses,  the  second  by  the  middle 
class,  the  third  by  the  classes,  or  those  who  consider 
themselves  to  belong  to  the  classes,  and  the  fourth 
by  the  middle  classes,  classes  and  millionaires.  The 
private  houses  are  generally  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
city.  In  the  latter  dwellings  the  owners  may  be 
found.  Few  people,  however,  live  in  their  own 
dwellings  in  New  York  City,  except  those  who  live 
in  what  are  known  as  private  houses.  These  private 
houses  are,  however,  not  very  numerous  in  New 
York.  The  fact  that  the  people  are  thus  housed 
shows  that  they  are  only  renters,  who  are  here  to- 
day and  somewhere  else  to-morrow.  Hence  a  por- 
tion of  the  city  inhabited  by  white  people  to-day  may, 
in  the  near  future,  be  occupied  by  colored  people ; 
a  German  neighborhood  may,  in  a  few  years,  be 
inhabited  by  Italians,  and  a  Christian  community 
may,  in  a  short  time,  be  turned  into  a  Hebrew  settle- 
ment.   This  may  sound  strange,  but  these  are  facts, 


324  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

and  facts  must  be  taken  into  consideration  in  the 
location  of  new  congregations  and  the  building  of 
churches. 

Our  missionaries  are  generally  young  men,  and 
these  are  doubtless  the  very  best  for  such  fields. 
Some  of  them  may  have  been  brought  up  in  a  city, 
but  the  majority  may  know  very  little  about  the 
present  roving  habits  of  our  city  population.  Hence 
if  the  Board  of  Church  Extension  is  called  upon  to 
assist  a  newly-organized  congregation  to  a  church 
home,  great  care  should  be  exercised  as  to  the  loca- 
tion, size  and  value  of  the  building,  so  that  if  in 
course  of  time  the  Lutherans  now  living  in  said  dis- 
trict should  be  driven  out,  you  may  be  enabled  to 
dispose  of  said  property  without  a  sacrifice.  This 
may  sound  somewhat  strange,  since  there  are  per- 
sons who  entertain  the  idea  that  our  newly-built 
Lutheran  churches  ought  to  be  representative 
churches.  We  are  just  as  much  in  favor  of  putting 
up  representative  Lutheran  churches  as  anyone  else, 
providing  the  congregation  is  able  to  do  it  without 
the  aid  of  the  Board  of  Church  Extension.  Though 
our  cities  may  fare  no  better  than  those  of  Egypt, 
Assyria  and  Babylonia,  we  still  do  not  believe  it  to  be 
the  duty  of  our  Board  of  Church  Extension  to  as- 
sist in  erecting  buildings  that  would  furnish  to  ar- 
chaeological scholars  of  ages  yet  unborn  material  for 
their  scientific  investigation.  The  object  of  our 
Board  is  not  to  put  up  buildings  that  will  partially, 


THE   WORK    IN   OUR  CITIES.  325 

at  least,  survive  the  destructive  process  of  ages,  but 
only  to  assist  in  puting  up  churchly  homes  for  the 
present  need. 

The  Board  of  Church  Extension,  with  its  present 
limited  capital  and  many  calls  for  assistance,  ought 
not  to  be  expected  to  help  congregations  in  the  erec- 
tion of  costly  buildings ;  but  ought  simply  to  help 
newly-organized  congregations  to  a  modest  and 
churchly  place  of  worship.  The  generations  follow- 
ing may,  and  doubtless  will,  put  up  more  substantial 
buildings  than  we  are  at  present  able  to  do. 

Since  the  traveling  facilities  play  a  very  important 
part  in  the  city  life  these  must  consequently  not  be 
overlooked  in  the  location  of  a  church  building. 
The  subways,  elevated  roads,  and  even  the  surface 
lines,  must  be  taken  into  consideration.  The  former 
especially.  A  church  ought  to  be  so  located  as  to 
be  within  easy  reach  of  these  lines  of  travel.  Some 
of  the  very  best  people  of  your  new  congregations 
may  in  a  very  short  time  live  far  from  their  present 
church  home.  If  they  have  been  devoted  workers 
in  your  church  from  the  time  of  its  organization, 
anQ  have  become  thoroughly  attached  to  it,  they  will, 
if  they  can  reach  you  either  by  subway  or  elevated 
road,  not  forsake  you,  but  remain.  Having  called 
your  attention  to  the  care  to  be  exercised  in  the 
location  of  church  buildings,  the  peculiar  condi- 
tions facing  us  in  our  large  cities,  especially 
New  York,  demand  that  something  should  be  said 


326  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

upon  this  subject.  The  renting  of  store-rooms 
will  not  do.  The  sooner  the  newly  organized 
congregation  gets  out  of  the  same  the  better  it 
will  be  for  it;  and  the  less  money  it  will  cost  your 
Board  of  Home  Missions  to  support  its  pastor.  We 
have,  at  present,  numerous  independent  missions 
carried  on  in  store-rooms,  by  persons  who  claim  to 
be  undenominational,  and  who  seem  to  have  very 
little  use  for  creeds.  Our  larger  cities,  especially 
New  York,  are  full  of  such  spirits.  They  are  lib- 
eral-minded, responsible  to  no  one,  and  carry  on 
their  work  as  long  as  some  individual  supplies  the 
needed  funds,  or  those  who  attend  can  be  persuaded 
to  do  so.  These  movements  are  being  looked  upon, 
by  the  very  people  we  wish  to  reach,  with  suspicion, 
and  you  cannot  blame  them  for  doing  so.  Some  of 
these  independent  spirits  seem  to  have  as  little  re- 
gard for  established  churches  as  they  have  for  the 
creeds  of  the  same.  During  the  winter  such  a  mis- 
sion was  opened  three  doors  from  our  church.  The 
opening  of  an  undenominational  and  unsectarian 
mission  close  to  an  old  and  an  established  church 
causes  our  people,  and  I  think  the  community, 
to  look  upon  it  with  suspicion.  After  two  months 
the  evangelist  departed  and  the  mission  disappeared 
with  him.  Such  work  causes  our  Lutheran  people — 
the  very  people  we  want  to  reach — to  look  with  sus- 
picion upon  missions  conducted  in  stores.     Hence 


THE   WORK    IN    OUR   CITIES.  327 

our  city  missions  should  be  assisted  to  a  church  as 
soon  as  possible. 

Do  not  confine  your  city  missionary  to  a  store- 
room any  longer  than  is  absolutely  necessary.  Pres- 
ent conditions  demand  the  abandoning  of  the  same 
with  all  haste.  If  you  do,  you  will  not  only  hinder 
the  progress  of  that  mission,  and  cause  your  mission- 
ary to  become  discouraged,  but  you  will  also  greatly 
increase  the  expenses  of  the  Board  of  Home  Mis- 
sions. We  know  well  enough  that  the  Board  of 
Church  Extension  must  move  cautiously,  and  that 
great  care  must  be  exercised  in  the  investment  of  its 
funds ;  nevertheless,  we  believe  that  after  the  field 
has  been  carefully  canvassed,  recommended  by  the 
Synodical  and  local  Home  Mission  and  Church  Ex- 
tension Committees,  approved  and  accepted  by  the 
Home  Mission  Board  and  receives  aid  from  the 
same,  that  that  mission  ought  to  be  assisted  to  a 
church  building  without  the  least  delay. 

We  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  Church  Extension 
in  our  large  cities  requires  larger  sums  than  Luth- 
erans have  thus  far  been  in  the  habit  of  giving.  On 
Wednesday,  April  14th,  1909,  the  Presbyterians  of 
our  city  raised  no  less  than  $116,000.00  to  carry  on 
Church  Extension  Work  in  the  Borough  of  Bronx, 
Greater  New  York.  During  the  past  year  we  or- 
ganized two  congregations  in  that  important  part  of 
our  city.  One  of  these,  St.  Thomas',  has  received 
$2,000.00  from  our  Board  of  Church  Extension ; 


328  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

the  other,  Church  of  Ascension,  is  still  in  a  store- 
room and  has  up  to  this  time  received  something 
towards  the  payment  of  its  rent.  Doubtless  the 
Board  realizes  that  $2,000.00  does  not  go  very  far  in 
securing  property  in  Greater  New  York.  It  looks 
almost  like  child's  play  compared  with  the  $116,- 
000.00  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  How  we  are 
going  to  compete  with  them  is  a  question  time  only 
can  solve;  but  it  seems  to  us  that  newly-organized 
congregations,  composed  largely  of  laboring  people, 
ought,  in  a  city  like  New  York,  to  receive  a  larger 
amount. 

In  order  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  carry  on 
Church  Extension  work  in  our  cities  as  we  ought, 
our  Board  must  be  more  liberally  supported.  The 
liberality  of  our  people  has,  from  the  day  the  Board 
of  Church  Extension  was  organized  to  the  present 
time,  been  clearly  manifested.  There  has  been  a 
steady  increase  from  $2,340.79  in  the  year  1869  to 
$175,492.79  in  the  year  1907.  This  shows  liberal- 
ity; it  proves  increased  liberality,  and  yet,  to  carry 
Church  Extension  in  our  larger  cities  as  we  ought, 
the  Board  must  be  even  more  liberally  supported. 
Considering  the  past  progress  in  liberality  we  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  it  will  be  more  liberally 
supported  as  soon  as  our  people  are  a  little  more 
educated  along  this  line  of  work.  Our  people  are 
just  as  willing  to  give  for  the  extension  of  the  Lord's 
kingdom  as  any  other  in  our  land.    The  impression 


THE   WORK   IN   OUR  CITIES.  329 

made  at  times  that  our  people  are  not  as  liberal  as 
others  is,  according  to  our  experience,  a  mistake. 
Whenever  our  people  are  enlightened,  encouraged 
and  given  credit  for  what  they  do,  they  give  liber- 
ally. As  long  as  the  members  of  our  congregations 
do  not  know  what  is  going  on  in  our  church ;  as 
long  as  they  are  not  aware  of  the  open  door  the  Lord 
has  set  before  us;  as  long  as  they  are  not  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  tremendous  issues  involved  in 
the  moral  and  religious  welfare  of  the  cities  upon 
which  the  destiny  of  our  country  depends,  that 
long  will  they  remain  indifferent  upon  this  moment- 
ous question. 

When  God  began  to  prepare  this  earth,  that  was 
then  waste  and  void,  for  the  home  of  man,  He  did 
not  begin  by  saying,  "Let  the  earth  bring  forth" ; 
neither  did  He  say  complainingly,  "Why  don't  the 
earth  bring  forth  ?"  But  He  began  by  saying,  "Let 
there  be  light."  Without  light  this  earth  would 
likely  have  remained  in  its  waste  and  void  condition, 
and  its  power  to  bring  forth  and  sustain  various 
forms  of  life  and  turn  chaos  into  order  and  beauty 
would  never  have  been  revealed.  Thus  it  is  with 
our  good  people.  Before  we  can  look  for  offerings, 
liberal  offerings,  light  must  be  diffused  and 
wherever  they  are  left  in  darkness  they  will  remain 
waste  and  void  in  spite  of  the  means  they  possess, 
and  all  our  complaining  cries,  "Why  don't  our  peo- 
ple do  it?"  will  amount  to  nothing. 


330  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

That  the  great  work  God  has  intrusted  to  our 
church,  especially  in  our  large  cities,  must  be  made 
known  to  the  people  who  are  to  support  the  same, 
is  self-evident.  How  can  we  best  acquaint  our  peo- 
ple with  this  work?  By  what  means  can  we  so 
enlighten  them  that  they  may  clearly  see  the  oppor- 
tunity this  open  door  offers  and  the  great  respon- 
sibility connected  therewith?  Has  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  placed  any  means  at  our  command  through 
His  Church,  whereby  this  greatly  desired  end  may 
be  achieved  ?  We  firmly  believe  He  has  in  the  Luth- 
eran Church  Work,  issued  monthly  by  our  Lutheran 
Publication  Society,  1424  Arch  Street,  Philadelphia. 
And  this  magazine,  whose  mission  is  to  enlighten 
our  whole  church  upon  this  very  subject,  is  the 
"official  publication  of  the  General  Synod  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,"  and  can  be  secured  at  the  small  sum  of 
seventy-five  cents  a  year.  Here  you  will  find  every 
department  of  our  church's  work  so  represented 
that  you  will  not  only  receive  the  much-needed  light, 
but  you  will  also  constantly  be  kept  in  touch  with 
the  same,  and  inspired  to  nobler  deeds  and  larger 
benevolence  for  the  Master's  work.  Give  the  Luth- 
eran Church  Work  a  chance  to  zvork  and  it  will  solve 
the  question,  "Whence  get  the  money  to  carry  on 
Church  Extension  Work  in  our  cities  as  we  ought?" 
Yea,  it  will  not  only  solve  the  financial  difficulties  of 
the  Board  of  Church  Extension,  but  of  every  other 


THE  WORK   IN   OUR   CITIES.  33 1 

Board  of  our  dear  old  General  Synod.  Brethren, 
help  the  Board  of  Publication  to  disseminate  Luth- 
eran Church  Work,  and  it  will  through  the  same  put 
the  Lutheran  Church  in  a  proper  condition  to  work ; 
render  you  the  indispensable  service  you  need  to 
carry  on  Lutheran  Church  work,  and  help  you  in 
solving  satisfactorily  the  perplexing  financial  prob- 
lems connected  with  Lutheran  Church  work. 


VI 


THE  POSSIBILITIES  OF  OUR  CHURCH 
EXTENSION  WORK 


THE  POSSIBILITIES  OF  OUR  CHURCH 
EXTENSION  WORK.    . 

The  Seven  Lamps  of  Church  Extension. 

edwin  heyl  delk,  d.d. 

Mr.  Ruskin  has  as  title  to  one  of  his  smaller  books, 
"The  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture."  In  it  he  de- 
clares what  he  believes  to  be  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  all  noble  building.  As  it  is  the  purpose  of 
this  paper  to  present  some  of  the  basal  facts  upon 
which  I  believe  the  work  of  the  Board  of  Church 
Extension  must  be  builded,  I  venture  to  take  a  por- 
tion of  Mr.  Ruskin's  famous  title  and  speak  to  you 
upon  "The  Seven  Lamps  of  Church  Extension." 

I  take  it  that  every  organization  and  group  of 
men  doing  business  for  man  or  God  has  some  policy 
and  method  of  procedure  based  on  a  wide  and  in- 
structive experience.  However  indefinite  and  tenta- 
tive the  policy  of  a  municipal  or  Church  Board  may 
be  in  the  earlier  years  of  its  operations,  by  the  time 
of  its  fortieth  anniversary  it  has  either  grown  wise 
or  hopelessly  foolish.  No  doubt  an  outsider  may 
consider  the  policy  and  procedure  of  such  a  Board 
unwise  and  arbitrary,  but  a  like  experience  on  the 
part  of  its  critics  would  quickly  justify  the  Board's 

(335) 


336  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

policy  and  procedure.  Actions  which,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  a  mission-council,  seem  tantalizing 
denials,  or  strange  expenditures,  look  very  different 
when  viewed  from  the  bank  account  of  the  Board- 
room. It  is  with  the  purpose  of  trying  to  place  the 
whole  Church  in  a  position  to  understand  and  sym- 
pathize with  the  principles  governing  this  Board, 
that  I  venture  to  hold  aloft  "The  Seven  Lamps  of 
Church  Extension." 

The  first  lamp  which  throws  light  upon  the  situa- 
tion is  the  lamp  of  Self-Help.  He  is  our  best  friend 
who  withholds  from  us  all  needless  aid  and  makes 
us  put  forth  our  own  utmost  strength  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  a  desired  end.  Self-help  is  the  best 
kind  of  help.  Unfortunately,  as  soon  as  a  group  of 
men  and  women  are  desirous  of  building  a  church 
they  think  of  calling  upon  some  external  body  of 
men  to  help  carry  their  proposed  venture.  Instead 
of  sanely  and  bravely  considering  their  own  ability 
as  a  local  congregation  to  wisely  build  and  equip  a 
little  church  or  chapel  of  their  own,  they  declare, 
"If  the  Board  of  Church  Extension  is  not  in  business 
to  loan  or  give  us  money  for  the  building  of  our 
church  what  does  it  exist  for?"  Well,  the  Board  of 
Church  Extension  has  another,  if  not  higher,  func- 
tion to  perform  than  to  pass  out  money  on  the  call 
of  groups  of  five  and  twenty  men  who  would  like 
to  see  a  Lutheran  chapel  within  easy  walking  dis- 
tance of  their  home.    That  function  is  the  educative 


THE   POSSIBILITIES   OF   OUR   WORK.  337 

function.  What  scores  of  incipient  congregations 
need  to  learn  is  this — that  the  ground  principle  of 
Church  Extension  is  that  it  is  far  better  for  a  group 
of  men  and  women  seeking  to  build  a  church  to  de- 
pend upon  themselves  rather  than  to  beg  or  borrow 
money  from  the  Board.  The  congregations  which 
are  aided  the  longest  are  the  weakest  churches.  The 
vital,  aggressive  churches  are  those  which  have  been 
self-reliant  and  escaped  from  the  nursing  of  the 
Board  of  Church  Extension  within  five  or  ten  years. 
I  know  how  strong  the  temptation  is  for  the  nascent 
congregation  to  borrow  quickly  and  too  largely  from 
the  Board.  The  noble  purpose  we  have  at  heart,  the 
opportunity  offered  in  many  mission  fields,  the  abso- 
lute necessity  for  a  permanent  place  of  worship,  the 
beauty  of  surrounding  churches,  all  conspire  to  make 
us  lean  hard  and  lean  long  on  the  Board,  but  I  pray 
you  who  are  in  need  of  money  for  church  erection, 
cultivate  the  spirit  of  self-reliance,  for  this  is  the 
first  and  most  important  lamp  of  Church  Extension. 
The  second  lamp  I  wish  to  light  is  the  Lamp  of 
Restraint.  Restraint  in  two  directions  is  a  crucial 
quality  in  the  effective  conduct  of  church  building. 
Many  congregations  build  too  quickly  and  pay 
dearly  for  their  precipitancy.  We  have  inadequate 
and  barbaric  church  structures  all  over  these  United 
States  simply  because  of  lack  of  restraint  in  time  and 
taste.  Protestantism  has  much  to  learn  from  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  in  this  matter  of  building. 
22 


338  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

When  she  builds,  one  sees  first  a  plain  structure  of 
boards  or  corrugated  iron  on  a  well  selected  lot,  but 
from  the  first  it  is  unmistakably  a  church  by  reason 
of  the  symbol  of  the  Christian  faith  fastened  at  the 
gable.  The  congregation  is  taught  to  worship  in  its 
plain  structure  until  the  time  is  ripe  to  commence  a 
worthy  church  planned  on  large  and  imposing  lines. 
Later  we  see  the  erection  of  a  broad  and  solid  base- 
ment, or  one-story  structure,  built  of  stone  or  mod- 
ern manufactured  material  which  will  stand  for  a 
century.  This  is  then  roofed  over  with  only  the 
suggested  first  lines  of  future  tower  and  sanctuary. 
In  this  wide  flat  structure  the  various  department? 
and  services  of  the  congregation  are  housed,  some- 
times for  a  decade.  The  people  are  wisely 
restrained,  but  all  the  while  every  member  of  the 
parish  is  being  urged  to  give  and  sacrifice  for  the 
noble  structure  which  is  to  rise  upon  the  worthy 
base.  The  day  finally  comes  when  a  higher  flight 
is  to  be  taken  and  within  a  few  years  the  command- 
ing and  beautiful  structure  rises  awaiting  only  those 
interior  decorative  features  which  add  esthetic  and 
educational  aid  to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God. 
In  this  age  of  rush  and  denominational  competition 
it  is  a  constant  temptation  to  build  for  the  immediate 
needs  of  a  mission  or  a  young  congregation.  To 
have  surrounding  congregations  rush  ahead  and 
build  cheap  and  choppy  department  churches  is  a 
menace  to  all  worthy  and  noble  church  erection. 


THE    POSSIBILITIES   OF   OUR    WORK.  339 

Let  US  cultivate  the  virtue  of  restraint.  An  influ- 
ential denomination  should  have  here  and  there  an 
imposing  and  beautiful  church.  Let  us  not  go  on 
forever  building  mediocre  and  perishable  structures 
in  order  to  "get  ahead"  of  some  neighboring  group 
of  half-cultured  churchmen. 

The  third  lamp  which  needs  placement  is  the 
Lamp  of  Fitness.  By  fitness  I  mean  that  the  struct- 
ure which  we  call  a  church  shall  be  a  fit  sanctuary  for 
the  indwelling  of  God.  I  am  not  hampered  in  my 
conception  of  a  modern  temple  of  worship  by  any 
attempt  to  repeat  in  spirit  or  forms  the  conception 
of  the  Old  Testament  or  mediaeval  cathedral.  What 
I  plead  for  is  the  recognition  that  a  church  is  to  be 
a  symbol  of  the  Divine  Being.  Whether  it  is  to  cost 
four  thousand  or  four  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
every  church  should  have  the  mark  upon  it  of  a 
sanctuary  where  God  meets  man  in  a  Holy  Com- 
munion. The  so-called  institutional  church  is  here, 
and  here  to  stay,  especially  in  certain  cities  or  neigh- 
borhoods, but  I  would  not  permit  any  congregation, 
or  architect,  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  pri- 
mary idea  of  a  church  is  that  it  is  to  be  a  structure 
symbolizing,  as  Victor  Hugo  said,  "God  within  four 
walls."  Make  worship  central :  then  if  there  is 
money  enough  to  be  found,  consider  the  question  of 
sewing-rooms,  gymnasia,  swimming-pool  and 
kitchens.  As  accessories,  these  adjuncts  to  a  church 
are  attractive  and  useful,  but  they  should  be  sub- 


340  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

ordinate  and  even  banished  from  any  church  plan 
which  sacrifices  the  basal  idea  of  a  sanctuary.  Mr. 
Ralph  Adams  Cram  writes :  "First  of  all,  a  church 
is  a  house  of  God ;  a  place  of  His  earthly  habitation, 
wrought  in  the  fashion  of  heavenly  things,  a  visible 
type  of  heaven  itself."  The  second  purpose  is  "The 
producing  of  a  place  of  worship  where  may  be 
solemnized  the  sublime  mysteries  of  the  Catholic 
faith ;  a  temple  reared  about  the  altar  and  subordi- 
nate to  it,  leading  up  to  it,  as  the  center  of  honor 
growing  richer  and  more  splendid  as  it  approaches 
the  sanctuary  where  is  concentrated  the  wealth  of 
obedient  and  loving  workmanship  that  may  be  ob- 
tained by  means  of  personal  sacrifice  through  years 
that  gather  into  centuries."  The  third  rule  in  build- 
ing is  "The  creation  of  spiritual  emotion  through  the 
ministry  of  all  possible  beauty  of  environment,  the 
using  of  art  to  lift  men's  minds  from  secular  things 
to  spiritual,  that  their  souls  may  be  brought  into 
harmony  with  God."  The  fourth  aspect  of  church 
forms  is  "The  arrangement  of  a  church  building 
where  a  congregation  may  conveniently  listen  to  the 
instruction  of  spiritual  leaders."  We  have  all  seen 
little,  inexpensive  chapels  where  the  moment  we 
entered  the  door  we  felt  like  kneeling  because,  de- 
spite the  smallness  of  the  building,  the  atmosphere  of 
worship  was  induced  by  every  line  and  appointment 
of  name  and  chancel.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have 
walked    into    gaudy    auditoriums    costing    thou- 


THE   POSSIBILITIES   OF   OUR   WORK.  34 1 

sands  of  dollars  and  have  felt  that  it  lacked  only  a 
drop  curtain  which  when  raised  would  make  its  plat- 
form the  fit  stage  for  religious  theatricalism.  In 
such  a  structure  the  preacher  becomes  the  chief  actor, 
not  the  congregation,  as  he  stands  in  the  spot-light 
of  a  personally-conducted  religious  department 
store. 

In  the  sphere  of  Church  Extension  the  fourth 
lamp  to  guide  our  procedure  is  the  Lamp  of  Econ- 
oiiiy.  Economy  not  so  much  in  our  local  expendi- 
ture of  money,  but  in  the  vital  forces  of  the  Church 
as  a  whole.  In  our  eagerness  to  secure  denomina- 
tional prestige  and  please  scattered  groups  of  Luth- 
eran adherents  the  Board  is  tempted  again  and  again 
to  establish  centers  of  religious  worship  where  there 
is  no  real  necessity  for  such  churches.  A  healthy 
conservation  of  denominational  life  is  praiseworthy, 
but  a  soft-hearted,  wooden-headed  insistence  upon 
building  missions  where  none  are  really  needed  is  a 
sinful  waste  of  money  and  energy.  First,  the 
fundamental  question  to  ask  in  looking  over  a  town 
or  section  of  a  city  is,  ''Has  this  community  already 
a  sufficient  number  of  places  of  worship  in  which  the 
gospel  is  being  preached?"  The  day  is  past  when 
our  Board  would  be  justified  in  the  eyes  of  intelligent 
men  of  encouraging  the  building  of  a  Lutheran 
church  for  some  ten  or  twelve  families  in  a  com- 
munity where  a  church  of  some  other  Evangelical 
denomination  stands  on  everv  other  street  corner. 


342  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

However  important  our  Lutheran  view  of  forms  of 
worship  and  sacraments  may  be,  we  must  remember 
that  they  are  not  fundamental  to  a  saving  Christian 
faith.  To  refuse  to  worship  in  other  Evangehcal 
forms,  or  to  practically  deny  the  validity  and  effect- 
iveness of  other  cults  and  conceptions  of  religious 
life  than  our  own,  is  to  slur  the  Church  catholic  and 
declare  one's  self  pitiably  sectarian.  Such  a  group 
of  petitioners  need  not  give  up  their  membership  in 
the  Lutheran  fold  and  unite  with  a  local  congrega- 
tion. They  should  worship  with  other  Christians 
if  they  cannot  reach  a  Lutheran  church  until  such 
time  as  a  sufficient  number  of  their  own  peculiar 
faith  justify  the  formation  of  a  congregation  and 
the  raising  of  our  own  type  of  sanctuary.  In  this 
age  of  "The  Federation  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 
in  America"  our  Board  is  justified  in  demanding 
this  economy  of  our  resources  in  money  and  men. 

Encouraging  such  sporadic  church  building,  espe- 
cially in  congested  portions  of  city  life,  is  foolish 
and  sinful  in  the  second  place  because  in  eight  cases 
out  of  ten  it  results  in  an  abortive  church.  A  sort  of 
beggarly  congregational  existence  is  established  by 
such  a  waste  of  men  and  means.  The  poor,  starved, 
emasculated  little  group  battles  on  for  years  only  to 
be  swamped  at  last  amid  the  smiles  of  some  and  the 
pity  of  all.  Personally,  I  believe  that  the  best  pol- 
icy for  the  congested  district  is  the  support  of  one 
old,  central,  strong  church  with  outlying  settlement- 


THE    POSSIBILITIES   OF   OUR    WORK.  343 

houses,  each  having  a  chapel  attached,  and  all  under 
the  administration  of  a  single  pastor,  his  assistants 
and  a  board  of  laymen  of  marked  executive  ability. 
The  weak,  isolated  congregation  may  be  tolerated 
for  awhile,  but  it  cannot  exist  or  do  its  proper  work 
alone.  It  should  be  a  part  of  a  collegiate  group 
mutually  dependent  and  working  together  under  one 
corporate  head  for  the  evangelization  and  spiritual 
nurture  of  the  community  in  which  it  exists.  It  is  a 
rank  and  futile  individualism  in  congregational  life 
which  prevents  this  co-operative  activity  among  our 
Lutheran  people — a  people  not  over-rich  in  men 
of  wealth  or  administrative  ability. 

The  fifth  lamp  of  Church  Extension  is  the  Lamp 
of  Reproduction.  The  law  of  reproduction  runs 
through  all  life.  One  of  the  constant  tests  of  vital- 
ity is  reproduction.  When  the  reproductive  func- 
tion of  an  organism  or  institution  fails,  that  body  is 
on  the  way  to  extinction  and  death.  This  law  holds 
true  of  individual  congregations  as  well  as  of  the 
denominations  and  the  church  at  large.  This  is 
the  basal  principle  in  all  missionary  activity  in  the 
individual  church.  As  a  practical  principle  in 
Church  Extension  I  believe  it  to  be  the  best  and  most 
Christian  way  of  establishing  new  centers  of  relig- 
ious life  and  work.  Let  every  strong  and  well-estab- 
lished congregation  look  about  them  in  the  territory 
occupied  by  the  people  of  a  city  ai^d  see  if  they  can- 
not find  a  spot  where  a  church  of  their  own  denom- 


344  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

ination  is  needed.  If  such  a  locality  is  found,  then 
upon  the  congregation's  own  initiative  commence  a 
Sunday  school  with  occasional  church  services  under 
the  direction  of  its  pastor  assisted  by  competent  lay- 
men. Instill  in  the  minds  of  the  mother  congrega- 
tion the  duty  and  the  privilege ;  yes,  the  dire  neces- 
sity of  this  missionary  activity,  or  else  the  best 
spiritual  life  of  the  congregation  will  not  be  realized. 
Let  no  thought  of  appealing  to  a  Board  of  Church 
Extension  be  entertained  for  a  moment.  The 
Board  has  enough  to  do  in  establishing  and  minister- 
ing to  frontier  settlements  and  cities  without  old  and 
strong  churches.  It  is  infinitely  better  to  have  an 
established  and  competent  church  institute  and  foster 
a  new  movement  of  this  kind  than  to  refer  the  whole 
matter  of  city  evangelization  to  a  Board  in  a  distant 
city.  Such  a  procedure  will  call  out  the  benevo- 
lence, faith  and  service  of  a  congregation  as  noth- 
ing else  can  do.  A  mutual  interest  and  endeavor 
will  be  engendered  that  will  give  opportunity  for 
the  brain  and  heart  of  every  man  and  woman  and 
child  to  grow  and  blossom  into  every  Christian 
grace.  If  one  church  cannot  establish  such  a  mis- 
sion and  help  to  build  a  chapel,  then  let  local  groups 
of  congregations  be  formed  to  relieve  our  Board  of 
the  pecuniary  strain  which  it  is  now  under. 

The  sixth  lamp  of  Church  Extension  is  the  Lamp 
of  Brotherhood.  By  brotherhood  I  mean  that  love 
of  the  people  which  encircles  all  classes  and  condi- 


THE   POSSIBILITIES  OF   OUR   WORK.  345 

tions  in  Christian  sympathy  and  service.  That 
Roman  centurion,  presented  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, whose  claim  to  Christ's  blessing,  voiced  by  a 
Jew,  was  "He  loveth  our  nation  and  hath  built  for 
us  a  synagogue,"  has  always  seemed  to  me  to  be  a 
very  logical  as  well  as  generous  philanthropist. 
Any  profound  interest  in,  or  love  of,  a  people  puts 
a  man  at  work  to  find  the  secret  of  stable  and  pro- 
gressive government.  I  know  of  no  force  which 
makes  for  law,  order  and  true  progress  so  effectively 
as  the  Christianity  of  Christ.  Some  European  gov- 
ernments have  sought  to  discredit  the  work  of  the 
Church  as  a  moral  and  patriotic  force.  Unfortu- 
nately most  European  governments  are  embarrassed 
by  a  State  church  and  the  Roman  Curia.  But  given 
a  church  separate  from  the  state,  a  church  devoted 
purely  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  regeneration  of  so- 
ciety, then  no  other  institution  is  comparable  to  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  assuring  the  safety  and  advance- 
ment of  the  state.  The  Roman  centurion  needs  du- 
plication a  thousand  times  in  our  American  Luth- 
eranism.  We  need  men  of  deep  and  broad  social 
outlook,  who  recognize  the  logic  of  a  true  patriotism, 
men  whose  love  of  the  nation  will  actualize  itself  in 
suitable  church  buildings  in  every  town  and  city  in 
the  United  States.  Mere  family  religion  is  too 
restricted  in  type  of  worship.  Our  common  schools 
dare  not,  or  cannot,  be  utilized  as  civic  temples  of 
religious    instruction.       If    the    country    and    city 


346  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

churches  are  not  kept  at  the  high-water  mark  of 
power,  we  shall  have  a  still  greater  census  of  juve- 
nile crime  and  anarchism.  The  safety  of  property 
and  person,  the  stability  of  contracts  and  industry, 
the  administration  of  justice  and  equal  laws,  the 
progressive  amelioration  of  poverty  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  industrial  democracy,  the  honor  of  the 
marriage  tie  and  the  duty  of  parenthood,  the  main- 
tenance of  hospitals  and  the  care  of  delinquent  chil- 
dren, the  curbing  of  militarism  and  the  establish- 
ment of  arbitration  courts,  the  movement  for  world- 
wide peace  and  international  comity,  in  the  last 
analysis,  find  their  hope  of  fulfillment  in  that  Spirit 
and  word  of  God  which  is  preached  in  our 
sanctuaries.  Tempted  as  the  Board  of  Church 
Extension  is  to  glory  in  the  businesslike  method  of 
its  successful  administration,  the  real  motive  power 
of  its  life  and  work  is  that  profound  conviction 
among  our  common  people  that  he  who  builds  a 
church  creates  a  center  of  true  social  and  national 
brotherhood  without  which  no  country  can  endure 
or  prosper. 

The  seventh  and  last  lamp  of  Church  Extension 
is  the  Lamp  of  Vision.  Ruskin  has  said,  "There 
are  a  hundred  people  who  can  talk  for  one  who  can 
think;  there  are  ten  who  can  think  for  one  who  can 
see ;  to  see  clearly  is  poetry  and  prophecy  in  one." 
The  first  and  fundamental  duty  of  our  Board  is  to 
see  the  field,  to  see  into  every  nook  and  cranny  as 


THE    POSSIBILITIES   OF   OUR   WORK.  347 

well  as  every  plain  and  mountain  top,  to  see  local  as 
well  as  national  needs,  to  see  men  as  well  as  man,  to 
see  opportunities  as  well  as  obligations,  to  see  plans 
as  well  as  people,  to  see  races  as  well  as  religions,  to 
see  prayerfully  as  well  as  practically.  No  Board 
needs  so  wide  and  wise  a  vision  as  the  Board  of 
Church  Extension.  Both  breadth  and  accuracy  of 
vision  are  imperative.  A  Home  Missionary  may  be 
easily  whisked  out  of  a  town  on  an  evening  train, 
but  a  church  once  built  stands  as  an  abiding  monu- 
ment of  wisdom  or  folly.  Our  society  is  to  be  for 
us  a  sort  of  almighty  eye  peering  into  the  light  and 
dark  places  of  our  nation's  life.  It  is  to  be  our 
sage  counselor,  conferring  with  local  committees 
who  are  sometimes  very  zealous  but  ignorant  in- 
vestors of  the  Lord's  money.  It  is  to  be  the 
Church's  strong  and  kindly  hand  which  reaches  out 
to  act  "thus  far  shalt  thou  go  and  no  farther."  It 
is  our  watch  tower  from  which  she  calls  the  Church 
to  battle  and  higher  achievement  in  church  building. 
Clear,  constant,  impartial  vision  is  its  duty  and  pre- 
rogative. To  it  as  a  center  of  vision  is  flashed  the 
message  and  need  of  Maine  and  New  Mexico,  Dela- 
ware and  Oregon.  That  vision  may  not  always  be 
accurate,  but  we  have  lifted  this  Board  to  the  highest 
altitude  of  denominational  outlook,  and  as  loyal  and 
generous  churchmen  we  should  trust  and  obey  the 
vision.  No  doubt,  it  may  be  widened  in  its  scope 
of  operation  as  funds  increase.     I  see  no  reason 


348  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

why  loans  for  parsonages,  settlement-houses  and 
gifts  for  tent-work  in  our  cities  and  camps  should 
not  be  made.  The  vision  desired  is  to  see  the 
whole  Church  awakened  to  her  thrilling  opportunity 
in  the  United  States,  a  mighty  host  eagerly  pressing 
forward  with  its  gifts  of  money  for  the  increase  of 
the  Board's  beneficent  work.  Then  there  will  be 
seen  a  Lutheran  Church  for  every  ten  thousand  of 
our  population,  a  General  Synod  Lutheran  spire  in 
every  county  in  America,  a  household  of  our  faith 
in  each  unchurched  hamlet  in  the  land,  a  mighty 
nation  imbued  with  the  free,  glad  spirit  of  our  Luth- 
eran forefathers  reaching  from  sea  to  sea  and  whose 
influence  shall  be  felt  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth. 


VII 

THE  ABSOLUTE  NEED  OF  THE  HOUSE 
OF^GOD 


THE  ABSOLUTE  NEED  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF 
GOD. 

REV.  CLARENCE  E.  GARDNER. 

"Moslemism  is  dying,"  said  a  noted  traveler.  "If 
you  want  to  know  why,  let  me  tell  you  that  in  all 
my  travels  of  five  years  among  the  principal  cities 
and  towns  where  they  are  most  numerous  I  found 
that  they  were  not  building  new  mosques,  neither 
were  they  repairing  old  ones."  Such  a  statement 
as  this  could  not  be  truthfully  made  concerning 
Christianity.  For  the  Church  of  the  living  God  is 
alive,  and  no  surer  evidence  could  be  desired  of  this 
fact  than  that  on  every  side  we  see  her  temples  of 
worship,  her  fanes  of  prayer  and  her  constantly  in- 
creasing number  of  devotees  who  come  regularly  to 
her  altars  to  worship  in  the  name  of  the  lowly 
Nazarene.  Places  are  constantly  being  provided  for 
the  worship  of  God ;  churches  are  being  erected  in 
increasing  numbers  every  year;  temples  and  cathe- 
drals resound  with  the  praise  and  adoration  of 
God;  and  the  cause  that  inspires  our  gathering  at 
this  time  goes  marching  on  to  conquest  and  victory. 

In  this  great  struggle  for  righteousness  and  the 
bringing  of  the  kingdom  of  God  into  our  midst  the 
Boards  of  the  Church  have  an  important  work  to 

(351) 


352  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

perform,  and  none  of  greater  importance  than  the 
Board  of  Church  Extension.  If  Christianity  is  to 
abide  the  test  of  time  and  to  endure  the  onslaught 
of  unbelief  and  decay,  it  must  be  properly  housed. 
Houses  of  worship  must  be  found  in  every  city, 
town  and  hamlet.  Places  that  can  be  dignified  as 
temples  and  cathedrals  must  be  found  alongside  of 
the  busy  marts  of  trade.  Stone  and  brick  must  alike 
be  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God  as  well  as  set 
apart  for  business  and  secular  pursuits.  Stability, 
permanence,  respectability  and  confidence  in  the 
power  of  the  religion  which  we  profess  demand  that 
there  shall  be,  not  only  houses  for  worship,  strong 
and  tall,  but  churchly  and  stately,  in  which  God  may 
be  worshiped  seven  days  out  of  every  week,  and 
every  week  in  all  the  years  as  they  come  and  go. 
And  this  demand  cannot  be  answered  short  of  a  con- 
secrated manhood  and  womanhood  with  brain  and 
brawn  and  means  alike  upon  the  altar  of  our  God. 
On  the  battle-fields  of  many  nations  monuments 
have  been  erected  to  the  prowess  of  armies  and 
men  who  fought  and  fell  in  defence  of  truth  and 
honor.  They  heard  the  call  of  their  country's  chief- 
tain ;  they  rallied  at  the  command  of  brave  leaders ; 
they  marched  through  rain  and  sleet,  under  burn- 
ing skies  and  mid-winter's  snows;  they  fought  and 
fell  as  patriots  and  heroes,  and  over  their  last  rest- 
ing place  loving  hands  and  grateful  people  have 
erected  these  marks   to  commemorate  their  noble 


THE  ABSOLUTE  NEED  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD.      353 

deeds.  More  grandly,  may  I  be  permitted  to  say, 
than  any  monument  ever  erected  to  commemorate 
the  noble  deeds  of  any  patriot,  stands  the  house 
of  God  with  its  steeples  and  towers  and  minarets 
piercing-  the  sky.  pointing  to  the  God  of  all  love  and 
mercy,  bearing  silent  testimony  to  the  undying  love 
of  One  who  left  the  courts  of  heaven  for  a  brief 
sojourn  on  earth,  where  He  finally  gave  His  life  a 
ransom  for  sin,  and  in  which  place  His  followers 
now  gather  to  worship  Him  as  the  Saviour  of  men. 

When  Francis  Xavier  was  about  to  depart  from 
Rome  on  his  great  missionary  work,  he  was  over- 
heard exclaiming  in  his  sleep,  "And  yet  more,  O 
Lord,  yet  more."  Long  afterwards  he  told  his 
friend  that  on  that  night  he  had  a  vision.  The  Lord 
had  shown  him  all  he  w'as  to  suffer  in  His  service — 
weary  journeys,  dangers  of  every  kind,  deep  rivers 
to  cross,  savage  lands  to  explore,  sickness,  tortures, 
at  last  death.  But  at  the  same  time  were  shown  him 
the  lands  he  was  to  bring  to  Christ,  the  great  num- 
bers that  were  to  be  saved ;  and  his  soul  was  so 
aroused  that  he  cried  out  for  more — more  sufferings, 
and  more  souls  brought  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Well  might  the  Church  cry  out  to-day,  "And  yet 
more,  O  Lord,  yet  more."  More  sufiferings,  more 
sacrifice,  more  consecration,  more  houses  of  worship 
and  more  souls  brought  to  a  saving  knowledge  of 
our  blessed  and  adorable  Redeemer. 

We  need  the  house  of  God  to  inspire  confidence 
23 


354  CHURCH   EXTENSION. 

among  the  people.  Our  God  tabernacles  among  men 
even  as  of  old.  Without  a  house  in  which  to  wor- 
ship mankind  would  be  very  much  as  the  children  of 
Israel  when  Moses  tarried  on  the  mount  of  Sinai. 
Without  a  permanent  place  of  worship,  and  that  place 
substantial,  and,  to  a  degree,  comfortable  in  its  ap- 
pointments, no  degree  of  confidence  could  be  inspired 
among  the  people  in  God  who  is  to  be  worshiped, 
nor  in  the  enterprise  as  a  Christian  institution  in 
the  community.  Halls  and  vacant  store-rooms  may 
suffice  for  a  time  as  places  of  worship.  But  in  every 
instance  that  time  is  limited,  and  unless  there  is  a 
disposition  to  secure  a  permanent  and  suitable  house 
as  David  desired  for  the  Lord,  the  enterprise  is 
doomed  and  the  cause  of  our  Lord  greatly  harmed. 
As  soon  as  the  chosen  people  of  God  had  crossed 
the  Red  Sea  they  were  given  instruction  to  erect  the 
tabernacle,  and  this  house  of  worship  was  ever  in 
their  midst  through  all  their  travels.  And  when 
this  same  people  were  established  in  the  land  which 
had  been  promised  them,  and  they  were  to  have  rest 
from  their  enemies  round  about,  a  feeling  of  per- 
manence, in  matters  of  state  and  religion,  at  once 
possessed  them,  and  the  temple,  beautiful,  substan- 
tial and  costly,  became  a  reality.  It  undoubtedly 
was  a  necessity  to  hold  them  and  their  posterity  for 
the  worship  of  the  one  true  God  in  the  midst  of  an 
idolatrous  people. 

We  live  in  the  midst  of  a  utilitarian  people  in  a 


THE  ABSOLUTE  NEED  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD.      355 

commercial  age.  Men  and  women  are  yet  taught 
through  the  eye-gate  as  well  as  the  ear-gate.  What 
they  see  they  believe.  The  doubting  Thomases  did 
not  all  pass  away  with  the  death  of  the  first  dis- 
ciples. As  an  object-lesson  to  doubtful  men  the 
house  of  God  is  still  needed.  It  stands  as  a  silent 
influence  in  every  community  of  the  worth  and  per- 
manency of  the  religion  therein  taught  and  pro- 
fessed. The  psalmist  has  said,  "Walk  about  Zion,  and 
go  round  about  her ;  tell  the  towers  thereof.  Mark 
ye  well  her  bulwarks,  consider  her  palaces ;  that  ye 
may  tell  it  to  the  generation  following."  Someone 
has  said,  "What  you  are  speaks  so  loudly  that  I  can- 
not hear  what  you  say."  Thus  speaks  every  church 
upon  every  corner  and  on  every  hill.  It  tells  the 
passer  by  of  Him  who  died  to  save ;  it  speaks  of  a 
love  so  pure  and  a  mercy  so  deep  that  both  saint 
and  sinner,  who  pass  its  doors,  acknowledge  a  debt 
of  gratitude  to  its  potent  influence. 

The  presence  of  the  Church  in  any  community 
tells  of  the  faith  of  its  people,  and  declares  that  that 
faith  is  founded  upon  the  Rock.  It  gives  respect- 
ability to  its  citizenship,  confidence  and  assurance 
to  the  stranger  within  the  gates,  forgiveness  of  sins 
and  salvation  to  every  penitent,  and  over  all  a  per- 
manence and  durability  against  which  the  gates  of 
hell  cannot  prevail.  Storms  have  swept  over  such 
people;  the  thunder  of  unbelief  and  the  roar  of  the 
evil  one  have  been  heard ;  the  dark  cloud  of  hate  and 


356  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

revenge,  with  its  dire  foreboding,  has  been  seen; 
but  to  no  avail,  for  confidence  in  the  things  that 
abide  has  been  estabhshed,  and  no  amount  of  storm 
and  wind  can  dislodge  such  from  the  sure  faith  of 
the  Church. 

Sometime  ago  two  travelers  were  making  an 
excursion  through  the  Green  Mountains,  when  dark- 
ness overtook  them  and  they  were  compelled  to 
spend  the  night  in  the  little  inn  on  Mount  Mansfield. 
In  relating  their  experience,  one  of  them  said,  "That 
night  there  came  on  a  furious  storm.  It  seemed  as 
if  the  little  hotel  in  which  we  had  been  trying  to 
sleep  would  be  thrown  from  the  mountain  top.  We 
looked  out  of  the  little  window  down  into  the  moun- 
tain-sides, and  it  was  one  vast  sheet  of  lightning 
all  the  time.  The  thunders  were  harsh,  and  it 
seemed  as  if,  in  the  violence  of  the  storm,  the  moun- 
tain itself  would  fairly  fall  from  its  resting  place. 
The  next  morning,  however,  we  looked  out  of  the 
same  window.  How  calm  and  beautiful  it  all  was ! 
We  looked  down  upon  Lake  Champlain,  and  the  sur- 
face was  just  as  smooth  as  if  it  had  never  been  dis- 
turbed by  the  keel  of  a  boat  or  a  boatman's  oar,  and 
far  to  the  north  we  could  see  the  spires  of  Montreal 
standing  out  like  silver  needles  in  the  far  distance ; 
and  far  across  westward  lay  the  Adirondack  regions ; 
and  looking  eastward  over  the  White  Mountain 
range,  the  air  was  as  crystal,  and  old  Mansfield  as 
firm  as  ever."     So  is  the  Church  of  our  Lord  Jesus 


THE  ABSOLUTE  NEED  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD.      357 

Christ,  resting  upon  the  sure  Rock.  Skepticism  may 
come  with  all  the  violence  of  its  errors ;  temptations 
may  assail,  the  thunder  and  lightning-  of  opposition 
may  come,  the  furious  blasts  may  blow,  and  it  would 
seem  as  if  the  Church  were  trembling  and  falling 
with  the  violence  and  the  shock  of  the  great  tornado ; 
but  it  stands,  and  will  stand,  because  it  is  founded 
upon  the  Rock. 

There  is  absolute  need  of  the  house  of  God  in 
every  community  as  an  educational  force  and 
agency.  Its  silent  walls  tell  a  story  to  every  passer 
by.  Its  upward  pointing  steeples  speak  a  language 
that  cannot  be  misunderstood.  Its  constantly  in- 
creasing numbers,  who  gather  within  its  sacred  in- 
closure,  tell  of  a  love  that  gave  Jesus  to  die,  and 
of  a  heaven  unto  which  He  has  gone  to  prepare  a 
mansion  for  us.  The  house  of  God  stands  as  a 
fortress  and  a  defence  to  every  land  and  nation  and 
a  sign  to  all,  who  will  read,  of  a  faith  and  a  trust 
in  things  that  abide  and  that  cannot  be  shaken. 

Not  the  least  influence  of  the  house  of  God  as  a 
place  for  worship  is  its  educational  value  to  coming 
generations.  The  stone  that  Jacob  used  as  a  pillow 
was  set  up  and  dedicated  to  God  and  called  the 
house  of  God  that  future  generations  might  know 
that  there  God  appeared  unto  His  servant,  and  that 
it  had  been  to  him  a  very  gateway  to  heaven.  And 
when  future  generations  should  ask,  "What  mean 
these  stones?"  taken  from  the  bed  of  the  river  Jor- 


358  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

dan  and  placed  thus  upon  a  heap,  the  answer  should 
be  that  God  had  here  appeared  unto  His  children, 
leading  them  into  the  promised  land  on  dry  ground. 
And  when  countless  millions  yet  unborn  shall  wake 
to  life  and  shall  see  these  templed  hills  and  for- 
tressed  cities,  they  shall  know  of  Him  who  reigns 
in  love  and  who  tabernacles  on  earth  among  men. 

The  absolute  need  of  the  house  of  God  is  so  self- 
evident  that  a  further  discussion  on  the  subject  seems 
needless.  And  yet  one  further  thought  may  be 
added,  not  necessarily  included  in  the  subject,  but 
which  is  done  for  the  sake  of  truth  and  greater  ef- 
ficiency in  the  work  of  the  Church.  Not  only  do 
we  need  houses  of  worship,  but  it  is  the  profound 
conviction  of  the  essayist  that  these  houses  should 
be,  in  architecture  and  arrangement,  churchly  and 
Lutheran.  We  are  not  only  deliberating  for  Ameri- 
can-born who  crowd  our  sanctuaries  on  days  of  wor- 
ship, but  we  are  alike  solicitous  for  our  foreign 
brother  who  comes  to  our  shores  from  Lutheran 
lands,  having  no  other  desire  than  to  worship  God 
according  to  the  faith  of  his  fathers. 

Our  argument  is  that  if  there  is  need  at  all  for 
the  house  of  God  as  a  place  of  worship,  then  there 
is  need  that  that  house  shall  be  constructed  accord- 
ing to  accepted  ecclesiastical  architecture,  and  that 
its  very  appearance  without  and  its  arrangement 
within  shall  be  a  sermon  in  itself  pointing  saint  and 
sinner  to  the  Lamb  of  God.    This  is  not  always  the 


THE  ABSOLUTE  NEED  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD.      359 

case.  Instead  of  the  churchly  structure,  with  its  ac- 
cepted adornments  and  appointments,  we  have  the 
plain  auditorium  with  no  chancel,  no  altar,  and 
nothing  to  indicate  the  place  as  a  house  for  worship, 
or  to  point  the  penitent  and  devout  worshiper  to  a 
higher  and  holier  life.  Whatever  the  style  of  archi- 
tecture may  be,  the  house  of  God  should  bear  the 
impress  of  the  purpose  to  which  it  is  dedicated.  It 
should  speak  in  language  unmistakable  to  all,  "This 
is  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  "The  house  of  prayer." 
It  should  bear  witness  to  every  humble  devotee  who 
worships  at  her  altar  of  the  greatness  and  glory  of 
Him  whom  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain 
and  who  is  worshiped  on  every  hill  top  and  in  every 
dale. 

While  the  Lutheran  Church  is  bound  to  no  par- 
ticular style  of  architecture,  yet  she  contents  her- 
self only  with  such  styles  and  principles  as  are  best 
calculated  to  lead  men  to  a  proper  appreciation  of 
the  One  who  is  to  be  adored  and  worshiped.  Her 
style  differs  materially  from  that  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  She  has  but  one  altar.  She 
makes  due  provision  for  the  preaching  of  the  word, 
and  for  the  whole  congregation  to  have  intelligent 
part  in  the  whole  service  of  worship.  She  makes  no 
separation  between  the  clergy  and  the  laity,  and 
provides  for  the  communion  of  the  people  and  not 
the  celebration  of  the  sacrament.  The  Lutheran 
Church    likewise    differs    from    the    non-Lutheran 


360  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

churches  in  that  the  former  holds  that  Christ  is 
present  in  His  word  and  sacraments,  and  through 
them  speaks  to  us  and  imparts  Himself  to  us.  And 
that  the  Holy  Communion  is  not  merely  a  mark  of 
the  confession  and  communion  of  the  people  of 
God,  but  is  a  sacrament. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  J.  F.  Ohl,  in  speaking  upon  art  in 
worship,  has  given  utterance  to  the  following  very 
significant  words :  "How  does  the  ideal  Lutheran 
congregation,  rooted  in  sound  doctrine,  vitalized  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  permeated  by  a  true  spirituality, 
and  having  a  pure  liturgy,  treat  the  arts  in  its  wor- 
ship? It  uses  all  of  them  to  magnify  Christ  and  His 
grace.  It  has  a  cultus  that  sets  forth  the  great  object- 
ive facts  of  redemption  on  the  one  hand,  and  ex- 
presses the  heart's  faith  and  gratitude,  its  love,  its  as- 
pirations, and  its  hopes  on  the  other.  It  assigns  to 
the  audible  and  visible  word  the  chief  place  in  that 
cultus.  It  gathers  for  worship  both  to  receive  and 
give.  It  sees  in  it  a  sacramental  and  a  sacrificial  side. 
Its  place  of  worship  is,  therefore,  neither  a  mere 
preaching  place,  nor  an  opera  house,  nor  an  art  gal- 
lery, but  the  house  of  God,  a  house  of  prayer,  which 
in  all  its  appointments  speaks  only  of  holy  things 
and  holy  service,  of  a  gracious  Giver  and  of  sancti- 
fied givers.  Whether  it  build  a  cathedral  or  a  mod- 
est chapel,  it  permits  no  profane  pattern  in  its  form, 
no  shams  in  its  construction,  no  bizarre  effects  and 
gaudy  show  in  its  decorations  and  adornments,  no 


THE  ABSOLUTE  NEED  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD.      361 

caricature  of  sacred  things  on  painted  wall,  or  in 
stained  glass  and  sculptured  stone.  In  a  word,  the 
art  of  the  Lutheran  congregation  is  Christian  art, 
dignified,  noble  and  pure;  never  coarse  and  vulgar; 
refined  and  beautiful,  yet  always  simple  and  holy, 
serving  at  once  to  arouse  and  to  express  devotion." 

Great  good  has  been  accomplished  by  our  Boards. 
Many  churches  have  been  built  by  them  and  large 
numbers  turned  from  the  rough  road  of  sin  to  the 
holy  way  of  the  cross.  The  prayer  of  our  Lord, 
"Thy  kingdom  come,"  is  being  answered  more  and 
more  each  year.  In  all  this  work  our  Board  of 
Church  Extension  has  taken  rank  with  the  foremost. 
On  hill  and  plain,  in  city  and  hamlet,  and  by  the 
busy  marts  in  every  community  stands  the  house  of 
God,  calling  the  world  to  a  life  of  holiness,  telling 
mankind  of  a  peace  that  is  hid  with  God,  pointing 
all  to  that  rest  prepared  for  the  children  of  God, 
and  speaking  in  a  language  that  cannot  be  misunder- 
stood of  a  Church  and  home  eternal  in  the  heavens. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  of  1866,  the  triumphant 
army  of  Prussia  came  to  Berlin  for  a  reception  of 
welcome.  As  each  regiment  approached  the  city 
gate  from  the  Thiergarten,  it  was  halted  by  a  choir, 
demanding  by  what  right  it  would  enter  the  city. 
The  regiment  replied  in  song,  reciting  the  battles  it 
had  fought,  tlie  victories  it  had  won;  then  came  a 
welcome  from  the  choir,  "Enter  into  the  city."  And 
so  the  next  came  up,  reciting  its  deeds,  and  another. 


362  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

each  challenged  and  welcomed.  They  marched  up 
the  Linden  between  rows  of  captured  cannon,  with 
the  banners  they  had  borne  and  the  banners  they 
had  taken,  and  they  saluted  the  statue  of  grand 
old  Frederick,  the  creator  of  Prussia.  So,  when 
all  the  fierce  warfare  of  earth  shall  have  been  ac- 
complished, and  the  kingdom  of  Christ  assured, 
the  phalanxes  of  His  Church  shall  go  up  to  the  city 
with  songs  and  tokens  of  victory.  They  shall  march 
together,  singing  the  hallelujahs,  and  shall  lay  their 
trophies  at  the  feet  of  Him  upon  whose  head  are 
many  crowns — King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords. 


VIII 

CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE. 

W.    E.    FISCHER,   D.D. 

A  history  of  church  architecture  is  not  the  pur- 
pose of  this  paper,  interesting  as  that  might  prove 
to  be.  Your  speaker  is  not  an  expert  in  the  art  of 
building,  and,  therefore,  it  must  not  be  expected 
that  he  deal  in  architectural  technicalities.  We  as- 
sume that  the  prime  object  in  this  discussion  is  to 
indicate  the  place  which  architecture  has  to  fill  in 
the  erection  of  a  house  for  the  worship  of  God. 
Here,  if  anywhere,  this  art  should  find  its  most 
fitting  and  most  suggestive  expression.  No  one  will 
seriously  dispute  the  proposition,  that  among  the 
many  factors  entering  into  the  successful  propaga- 
tion of  Christianity  the  church  building  plays  a 
most  important  part.  Our  Lord  has,  indeed,  indi- 
cated that  the  thing  which  is  chief  and  primal  in 
Christian  worship  is  the  spirit  of  the  worshiper. 
"God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  Him  must 
worship  Him  in  Spirit  and  in  truth." 

All  true  worship  is  a  matter  of  right  tempera- 
ment or  spirit.  But  men  have  always  had  special 
places  and  set  times  to  worship  God. 

The  style  or  character  of  the  place  of  worship 
was  early  suggested  bv  God  Himself  in  his  direc- 

'(365) 


366  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

tions  for  the  building  of  the  temple.  It  is  true  that 
God's  plans  for  the  temple  and  the  character  of  the 
worship  of  that  early  day  were  adaptations,  and 
were  not  intended  to  be  final  or  determinative  of 
all  the  future  of  the  Church  of  God.  But  the  fact 
that  God  gave  instructions  at  all,  as  to  the  style  of 
the  temple  and  its  worship,  is  certainly  suggestive. 
It  is  educational,  and  must  lead  us  to  conclude  that 
God  is  interested  in  even  the  material  building  set 
apart  for  His  worship.  History  and  experience 
teach  that  a  house  in  which  an  orderly  religious 
service  may  be  conducted  to  the  glory  of  God,  and 
for  the  maintenance  of  religion  pure  and  undefiled  is 
not  only  a  necessity,  but  also  that  the  disposition 
of  such  a  house  has  its  influence  upon  the  worshiper. 
The  fact  of  the  Church  is  deeply  impressed  upon 
the  world  through  its  material  form  of  expression. 
The  graceful  church  spire,  flashing  in  the  morning 
light,  and  catching  the  descending  sun's  rays,  is 
eloquent  with  an  inspiring  message.  The  house  of 
God  is  a  public  confession  of  God,  a  witness  to  the 
fact  of  the  divine  presence  in  our  midst,  a  declara- 
tion that  God  is  near  and  communicable.  Man's 
duty  to  God  and  his  own  soul  is  accentuated  every 
time  he  looks  upon  a  church  building.  These  are 
truths  which  find  corroboration  in  the  experience  of 
every  enlightened  soul.  The  temple  in  Jerusalem, 
in  its  appointments  and  all  its  parts,  tended  to  es- 
tablish the  fear  of  the  Lord  in  the  hearts  of  the 


CHURCH    ARCHITECTURE.  367 

people.  There  was  a  voice  in  its  architecture  which 
called  the  worshiper  to  a  wholesome  reverence  of 
God.  Into  the  outer  courts  of  the  temple  every 
Hebrew  might  go;  into  the  inner  court  only  one 
particular  class  could  enter;  while  into  the  inner- 
most sanctuary,  or  Holy  of  Holies,  only  one  man 
was  permitted  to  make  his  way,  and  that  man  only 
on  one  great  day  of  the  year.  Thus  the  cardinal 
truth  was  promulgated  that  God  is  majestic  and 
holy,  and  can  be  approached  only  by  the  humble 
and  contrite  heart.  If  this  means  anything  to  us 
modern  Christians,  it  must  certainly  suggest  that 
the  character  of  the  church  building  ought  not  to 
be  a  minor  consideration  in  our  day  and  age. 

That  there  are  some  things  which  affect  the  archi- 
tecture of  a  church  in  these  modern  days,  and  make 
it  difficult,  in  many  instances,  to  carry  out  the  ideas 
that  enter  into  a  Christian  conception  of  what  a 
church  building  should  embody,  goes  without  say- 
ing. The  days  of  the  fathers  are  past,  the  simple 
days  with  their  few  and  simple  requirements.  The 
church  with  its  torturing  pews  and  gigantic  stoves, 
its  three  or  four  large  windows  on  each  side,  its  long 
vista  of  arches  painted  in  stucco  behind  the  pulpit, 
is  not  the  church  of  the  twentieth  century.  The 
difficulties  of  the  architect  are  found  in  the  some- 
what complex  organization  of  the  church  of  to-day. 
To  the  main  auditorium  there  is  ordinarily  to  be 
added  a  group  of  apartments,  each  with  a  more  or 


368  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

less  distinctive  character.  In  the  not  very  remote 
past  there  was  httle  or  no  necessity  for  the  economy 
of  space.  To-day,  this  is  of  well  nigh  supreme  im- 
portance. The  increased  demand  for  room  has  its 
counter  demand  in  cost  of  space,  and  this  is  no 
small  embarrassment.  The  architect  of  a  city 
church,  and  even  of  the  church  of  the  larger  town 
and  ambitious  village,  finds  it  necessary  to  econ- 
omize every  inch  if  he  would  meet  the  aspirations  of 
his  client.  And  it  is  a  problem  often,  whether  the 
churches  in  many  places  can  much  longer  confine 
themselves  to  the  one-story  theory  or  accept  those 
conditions  of  life  in  strata  which  have  been  adopted 
in  business,  professional  and  domestic  architecture. 
In  the  days  of  long  ago,  there  was  little  discussion 
as  to  light,  heat  or  ventilation,  and  there  were  no 
sleepless  nights  because  of  worry  over  beauty  or 
comfort.  Indeed,  to  many  the  two  latter  features 
were  suggestive  of  carnality,  and,  as  for  hygiene, 
our  fathers  scarcely  dreamed  of  it.  To-day,  all 
these  are  perplexing  demands  which  the  skilled 
architect  must  meet. 

Then  there  is  the  question  of  material  which  is 
so  essential  in  these  days.  The  church  of  the  ham- 
let was  built  of  wood  or  brick,  without  the  least 
suggestion  of  the  niceties  of  trimming.  The  city 
church,  at  least,  must  satisfy  an  exacting  taste  in 
material,  and  must  embody  the  very  latest  ideas 
with  regard  to  the  most  effective  use  of  brick,  stone, 


CHURCH    ARCHITECTURE.  369 

terra-cotta,  the  metals,  woods,  etc.,  and  their  most 
artistic  blending  into  fine  architectural  effect.  In 
addition  to  this,  the  whole  question  of  interior 
decoration  has  to  be  met  with  an  artist's  eye,  and 
an  artist's  training.  There  must  be  a  reference  to 
chaste  toning,  the  upholstering  must  be  beautiful, 
if  not  elegant,  the  use  of  stained  glass  must  be 
judicious ;  carpets,  and  all  the  details  going  to  make 
up  the  interior  effects,  must  be  studied  out  in  the 
light  of  the  best  principles,  and  even  latest  fads  of 
art. 

And  then  the  question  of  expense  must  be  met 
with  a  mingled  boldness  and  caution  quite  new  to 
this  age.  In  the  humble  days  the  church  could 
be  built  largely  by  volunteer  labor  of  the  members, 
supplemented  by  outside  work  not  difficult  or  ex- 
pensive to  obtain.  All  this  has  changed  with  the 
advanced  age,  so  that  the  questions  of  finance  have 
assumed  the  proportions  of  problems.  The  average 
city  church  costs  many  thousands  of  dollars.  Usu- 
ally the  architect  is  superintendent  of  the  work  of 
construction,  and  he  must  deal  with  contractors  of 
material,  must  cope  with  labor's  laws  and  penalties, 
must  satisfy  a  large  constituency,  and  approve  him- 
self to  a  small  army  of  critics.  The  reputation  of 
the  architect  is  dear  to  him,  and  he  must  jealously 
guard  it  if  he  would  maintain  his  position  among  his 
colleagues  and  safeguard  his  financial  future. 

These  considerations  invest  church  architecture 
24 


370  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

with  peculiar  embarrassments.  At  the  same  time 
they  afford  opportunity  to  genius,  and  the  coura- 
geous and  intelHgent  attack  on  these  difficulties  has 
resulted  in  architectural  models  which  make  our 
age  illustrious.  We  are  witnessing  a  wonderful 
adaptation  of  mediaeval  and  semi-tropical  ideas,  of 
what  is  an  appropriate  house  of  worship,  to  the  re- 
quirements of  our  times  and  climates  and  faiths; 
and  the  typical  church  of  to-day  expresses  the  spirit 
of  our  age  in  its  larger  demands  as  the  piety  of 
past  times  expressed  itself  in  the  open  tabernacle, 
the  monastery  or  the  cathedral.  We  are  not  an 
advocate  of  much  that  enters  into  the  architecture 
of  the  modern  church,  especially  of  what  is  fermed 
the  institutional  or  apartment  church. 

Solomon's  conception  of  the  church  must,  in 
large  measure,  find  place  in  our  modern  view  of 
what  the  church  should  be.  He  said  the  building 
of  the  temple  was  a  great  work  because  "Great  is 
our  God."  The  church  building  is,  in  a  certain 
sense,  our  measure  of  God.  Solomon  employed 
skilled  workmen  and  used  costly  materials.  His 
sestheticism  was  not  without  reason.  He  built  not 
for  the  applause  of  men  or  self-glorification,  but  out 
of  a  worthy  and  rational  sense  of  what  was  fitting 
and  worthy  of  God.  The  temple  must  mean  but 
one  thing,  and  that  thing  the  greatness  of  God.  And 
it  is  because  we  forget  that  the  architecture  of  the 
church  is  to  body  forth  to  the  world  in  a  fashion 


CHURCH    ARCHITECTURE.  37 1 

our  conception  of  God,  insufificient  as  that  con- 
ception must  be  at  its  best,  that  we  must  so  often 
look  upon  what  someone  has  called  "an  irreverent 
caricature  of  God." 

With  the  progress  of  theology  we  can  no  longer 
dedicate  to  God  a  mere  house  of  worship.  It  is  far 
enough  from  our  thought  to  insist  upon  profligate 
extravagance  in  the  building  of  churches.  God  is 
not  honored  and  glorified  before  the  world  by  a 
building  whose  elegance  must  often  mean  an  in- 
tolerable financial  burden  to  the  worshipers,  through 
half  a  generation,  or  worse,  which  must  end  in  the 
humiliating  result  of  a  foreclosed  mortgage.  The 
most  unpretentious  house  He  will  fill  with  His  dedi- 
cating and  abiding  blessing,  if  that  be  the  best  the 
worshipers  can  offer  to  Him.  But  the  possession  of 
large  gifts  of  money  is  a  call  to  glorify  God  in  the 
erection  of  a  place  of  worship  that  will  indeed  honor 
Him  from  whom  all  our  blessings  flow.  If  through 
meanness  or  avarice,  or  a  desire  to  withhold  from 
God  a  worthy  expression  of  our  faith  and  love,  we 
consume  His  gifts  upon  our  own  lusts,  then,  indeed, 
it  were  no  strange  thing  if  God  should  withhold 
His  presence  and  blessing,  and  Ichabod  should  at 
last  be  written  upon  the  door  of  the  church.  For 
now.  as  always,  "God  judges  between  poverty  that 
wants  to  give  and  wealth  that  wants  to  withhold." 
Any  place  will  God  glorify  with  His  presence  if  it 
expresses  the  measure  of  our  ability  to  meet  the 


372  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

Struggling  effort  of  our  souls  to  build  to  Him  a 
house  in  which  He  may  dwell. 

It  may  be  said,  by  way  of  summing  up  what  has 
been  here  inadequately  enough  written,  that  the 
architecture  of  the  church  should  be  pleasing  to 
the  eye,  should  satisfy  the  requirements  of  conven- 
ience, and  should,  in  some  true  measure,  body  forth 
our  conception  of  the  greatness  and  glory  of  that 
God  whom  we  serve  and  whose  we  are.  Vitruvius 
defines  the  essential  qualities  of  architecture  as 
stability,  utility  and  beauty.  However  humble  the 
house  of  God,  it  should  be,  and  may  be  so  disposed 
in  all  its  parts,  as  to  minister  to  the  best  emotions 
of  the  soul. 

There  can  be  no  dogmatic  prescription  as  to  style 
of  architecture  to  be  followed  by  our  own  church 
people.  We  agree  that  the  Gothic  is  "Christian" 
architecture,  since  it  is  "the  only  style  developed 
wholly  in  Christian  church  building."  Individual 
taste  will  always  play  a  large,  if  not  determining, 
part  in  the  erection  of  our  churches.  But  one  thing 
is  fundamental,  and  that  is  that  the  building  is  for 
God,  and  its  character  must  express  the  purpose  for 
which  it  is  erected.  We  Lutherans  have  our  own 
requirements  and  needs.  These  requirements  and 
needs  so  differentiate  us  from  others  as  to  make 
necessary  certain  provisions  by  which  we  may  ex- 
press our  own  faith  and  cultus;  this  much  we  may 
say  by  way  of  definition,  and,  at  least,  suggestive 


CHURCH    ARCHITECTURE.  2)7Z 

prescription.  In  the  interior  features  of  the  church, 
we  should  be  our  own  architects.  And  we  believe 
that  the  extension  of  our  own  church  will  be  fa- 
cilitated by  subordinating  all  the  latest  fads  in  the 
art  of  church  building  to  the  best  expression  of  our 
own  faith  and  church  life.  To  this  end  we  believe 
the  church  plans  of  the  Board  of  Church  Extension 
look. 


IX 

WORK  IN  THE  SUBURBS 


WORK  IN  THE  SUBURBS. 

A.    J.    TURKLE^   D.D. 

Suburbs  in  the  modern  sense  are  distinctly  crea- 
tions of  recent  times.  They  did  not  exist,  and  could 
not  have  existed,  before  the  age  of  rapid  transit. 
For  a  pittance  the  live  wire  sends  the  man  and  his 
family  to  the  suburbs  and  creates  a  new  community 
and  gathers  vast  populations. 

In  our  use  of  the  word  suburbs  are  centers  of 
population  near  to  a  city,  caused  by  it,  dependent 
upon  it,  and  usually  distinct  in  name  and  govern- 
ment. They  draw  life  from  the  large  centers  and 
without  them  would  not  exist. 

They  are  commonly  places  of  residence  for  those 
doing  business  in  the  cities.  Sometimes  they  are 
cities  themselves  grown  up  around  manufacturies. 
Some  suburbs  are  places  where  the  poorer  classes 
have  sought  homes  because  they  could  live  better 
for  less  money  there  than  elsewhere.  Other  sub- 
urbs are  residential  communities  for  the  well-to-do 
who  can  afford  large  grounds,  and  who  are  willing 
to  pay  for  spacious  and  beautiful  homes. 

These  communities  differ,  but  there  are  certain 
characteristics  common  to  all.  They  are  seldom 
crowded.      It    is    possible    for    their    residents    to 

{2>77) 


^f'jd)  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

breathe  pure  air  and  to  see  unlimited  stretches  of 
blue  sky.  The  tenement  house  and  the  apartment 
house  are  almost  unknown.  Usually  one  roof 
shelters  but  one  family.  When  electricity  was  har- 
nessed to  the  service  of  street  railroads  it  opened 
unlimited  territories  adjacent  to  every  city,  and  the 
suburban  belt  has  been  very  rapidly  extended  in 
recent  years. 

The  most  significant  fact  of  our  time  is  the  growth 
of  the  cities,  and  this  has  been  largely  in  the  sub- 
urban districts.  Many  causes  contribute  to  this 
movement  to  the  cities.  Statisticians  and  students 
of  sociology  have  analyzed  the  causes  and  assure  us 
that  the  forces  at  work  causing  the  marvelous 
growth  of  our  great  commercial  and  industrial  cen- 
ters are  permanent,  and  the  tendency  which  springs 
from  them  will  be  permanent.  Without  doubt  an 
ever-increasing  proportion  of  our  population  must 
live  in  cities.  This  will  congest  the  centers  even 
more  than  at  present,  but  it  will  also  send  multitudes 
to  the  outskirts  to  found  and  build  new  homes. 

We  are  accustomed  to  speak  with  real  concern  of 
the  tide  of  immigration  coming  to  our  cities,  and 
it  should  demand  our  most  careful  consideration. 
But  the  flood  of  migration  is  of  much  stronger  flow. 
Moving  from  city  to  suburb  and  from  one  district 
to  another  presents  a  condition  for  which  the  Church 
must  provide.  Religion  is  very  susceptible  to  trans- 
plantation.    It  often  withers  and  dies  in  the  new 


WORK    IN    THE    SUBURBS.  379 

environment.  The  church  must  gather  her  mem- 
bers in  these  new  communities  and  help  them  to  a 
church  home  or  they  will  become  careless  and  indif- 
ferent in  reference  to  spiritual  things. 

It  has  come  to  be  recognized  that  suburban  life 
may  be  one  of  the  most  selfish,  self-concentrated, 
comfort-seeking  lives  imaginable,  or  it  may  be  just 
the  reverse.  It  requires  constant  effort  to  make  it 
the  reverse,  the  line  of  least  resistance  is  in  the  di- 
rection of  selfishness.  Nor  can  one  say  that  this 
is  simply  a  reflection  of  ordinary  city  life.  The 
incitement  of  the  altruistic  impulses  comes  in  many 
purposed  and  unpurposed  ways  to  the  citizen  of  a 
great  center;  only  rarely  does  it  come  to  the  citizen 
of  a  suburb.  The  absence  of  any  serious  problems 
within  a  reasonable  distance  from  one's  residence, 
the  absolute  lack  of  touch  with  those  problems  very 
easily  leads  to  a  complacent  optimism.  It  is  true 
that  the  family  life  may  be  more  finely  developed  in 
the  suburbs  than  in  the  city,  and  yet  it  may  become 
a  narrow  and  selfish  and  godless  development.  The 
suburbs  are  in  as  great  need  of  the  Church  and  her 
influence  and  ministries  as  the  most  congested  cen- 
ters. Without  detracting  from  the  fine  qualities  of 
suburban  life,  it  is  necessary  to  consciously  have  in 
mind  that  it  is  distinctly  the  duty  of  the  Church  to 
conserve  and  direct  the  latent  power  of  these  rapidly- 
developing  districts  in  spiritual  things. 

The  suburb  may  be  saved  for  Christ.    Those  who 


380  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

have  been  members  of  our  churches  elsewhere  may- 
be enHsted.  The  selfish  ones  may  be  won  to  a  life 
of  service ;  the  careless  may  be  aroused ;  the  alienated 
may  be  brought  back.  The  Church  of  the  Reforma- 
tion has  won  a  host  in  every  suburb  where  it  has 
been  established  to  a  life  of  devotion  and  a  life  of 
service  for  Jesus  Christ. 

The  tremendous  growth  of  the  suburbs  marks  a 
new  civilization,  and  is  thrusting  new  responsibilities 
upon  the  Church.  We  must  recognize  the  fact  that 
if  our  church  is  to  have  a  future,  it  must  follow 
closely  the  constant  drift  to  the  suburbs.  This  other 
churches  have  done  with  marvelous  sagacity  and 
foresight,  and  rallied  their  forces,  and  enlisted  our 
Lutherans  where  we  have  tardily  followed.  Our 
own  church  must  grasp  the  significance  of  this  sub- 
urban movement,  and  shape  our  policy  for  planting 
new  churches  accordingly.  The  report  of  the  Board 
of  Church  Extension  to  the  last  General  Synod 
showed  that  the  churches  aided  during  the  biennium 
were  about  one-third  of  them  located  in  suburbs. 
This  percentage  is  not  at  all  in  proportion  to  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  suburbs.  We  must  awaken  to  the 
duty  of  the  hour.  The  development  of  our  church 
in  the  Pittsburgh  Synod  in  recent  years  has  been 
by  planting  new  churches  in  rapidly-growing  sub- 
urbs that  have  sprung  up  in  that  great  industrial 
center.  Scores  of  churches  have  been  organized 
in  this  Synod  and  helped  to  a  church  home  by  the 


WORK    IN   THE    SUBURBS.  381 

Board  of  Church  Extension  during  the  past  twenty 
years.  The  membership  of  Synod  has  been  in- 
creased three  times  over.  The  benevolence  of  Synod 
has  been  multiphed  by  five.  The  members  average 
three  times  as  much  in  their  gifts  to-day  as  they  did 
twenty  years  ago.  From  the  standpoint  of  figures 
other  interesting  and  encouraging  data  might  be 
mentioned  as  the  direct  result  of  aggressive  work 
in  planting  and  equipping  our  church  in  the  Pitts- 
burgh suburbs.  But  that  is  a  small  part  of  the  story. 
Lutherans  are  proud  of  their  church  in  that  dis- 
trict to-day.  They  are  recognized  in  the  community 
of  churches.  The  pastors  are  known,  and  their 
sterling  integrity,  aggressive  methods  and  gospel 
preaching  is  recognized  as  an  important  factor  in 
the  community.  It  is  not  necessary  any  longer  to 
explain  to  every  man  you  meet  what  your  church 
represents.  They  know  her  by  her  works.  Our 
church  can  gather  a  nucleus  for  an  organization  in 
almost  any  suburb.  They  are  our  most  fertile  fields 
to-day,  and  they  will  yield  an  abundant  harvest  for 
the  future.  We  have  a  much  wider  mission  than  to 
our  own  household  of  faith.  And  nowhere  can 
those  of  other  churches,  and  no  church,  be  enlisted 
as  in  these  new  communities.  With  the  Board  of 
Church  Extension  giving  its  encouragement  to  the 
new  enterprise  by  its  loans  and  donations,  it  can 
be  started  on  the  way  to  successful  issue. 

The  first  need  of  a  mission  is  a  place  to  meet  for 


382  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

worship.  Sometimes  even  a  hall  or  school  building 
cannot  be  secured  for  this  purpose  in  the  suburb 
where  needed.  The  Pittsburgh  Synod  established  a 
Church  Property  and  Loan  Fund  to  help  the  mission 
purchase  a  lot;  and  we  have  several  splendid 
churches  to-day  that  received  their  first  encourage- 
ment by  loans  from  this  fund.  Money  should  be 
available  for  just  such  emergencies.  The  purchase 
of  a  lot  in  a  new  suburb,  before  values  become  pro- 
hibitive, and  upon  which  a  chapel  may  be  placed, 
starts  the  mission  upon  the  way  to  successful  work. 
The  people  can  be  gathered  as  they  arrive  and  money 
saved  for  the  organization. 

A  portable  chapel  is  especially  well-adapted  for 
preliminary  organization  and  the  early  stages  of  the 
development  of  work  in  the  suburbs.  When  the 
time  comes  for  the  first  church  it  can  be  moved  on 
to  another  needy  place. 

The  location  of  the  church  is  a  most  vital  con- 
sideration. The  church  that  attracts  the  wide-awake 
and  successful  men  of  affairs  must  be  properly  lo- 
cated. To  erect  a  church  edifice  in  some  out  of  the 
way,  inaccessible  and  half  way  respectable  street  is 
to  arouse  the  prejudice  of  this  class  of  people  at 
the  outset.  It  impresses  them  neither  with  the 
worldly  nor  heavenly  wisdom  of  church  manage- 
ment. It  runs  counter  to  their  trained  business 
judgment,  and,  as  a  result,  an  unfavorable  impres- 
sion is  made  upon  their  minds  which  acts  as  a  bar- 


WORK    IN   THE    SUBURBS.  383 

rier  to  that  church's  entrance  into  their  hearts  and 
homes.  Business  sagacity  seeks  a  good  location 
as  a  prime  condition  of  success  in  any  commercial 
enterprise.  And  it  is  not  less  essential  to  success  in 
founding  and  building  up  a  Christian  congregation. 

Next  to  a  proper  location  in  importance  should 
be  emphasized  the  advantages  of  attractive  and  ade- 
quate houses  of  worship.  An  unattractive  church 
building  is  an  eyesore  to  the  well-kept  residence 
district  in  which  it  is  located.  The  well-to-do  are 
repelled  rather  than  attracted  by  its  appearance.  The 
pulpit  may  be  filled  by  a  man  who  is  eloquent,  but 
these  people  will  never  hear  the  gospel  proclaimed 
there. 

We  may  insist  that  pride  is  responsible  for  this. 
It  may  be,  that  to  some  extent,  it  is  commend- 
able pride.  King  David  was  ashamed  to  live  in  a 
house  of  cedar  while  the  Ark  of  the  Lord  was  kept  in 
a  tent.  The  character  of  the  community  will  help  to 
determine  the  character  of  the  church  building.  It 
should  be  adequate  for  the  needs,  with  room  for 
growth.  It  should  be  churchly  in  style  of  archi- 
tecture. Its  environment  should  be  attractive  and 
its  portals  inviting.  The  church  home  becomes  a 
cherished  center  around  which  every  interest  and  en- 
deavor will  speedily  cluster.  It  imparts  a  spirit  of 
expectation  and  hope  and  strength  that  shrinks 
from  no  attempt.  It  exerts  a  silent  influence  on  the 
community  seldom  duly  appreciated.     It  declares  a 


384  CHURCH    EXTENSION. 

design,  a  mission,  an  intent,  and  the  equipment  for 
religious  activities.  It  will  draw  the  careless  and 
indifferent  and  self-seeking  to  a  life  of  devotion  and 
Christian  service.  When  the  new  organization  takes 
its  place  in  the  community  as  the  possessor  of  a 
suitable  church  building  it  has  a  permanency  which 
the  community  recognizes  and  its  growth  is  ac- 
celerated. 

Is  our  duty  not  imperative  to  help  plant  our  be- 
loved Lutheran  Church  in  every  suburb?  Do  we 
not  find  the  fullest  vindication  for  our  efforts  to 
assist  each  new  organization  to  secure  a  desirable 
location  and  a  suitable  building  for  its  use  and 
ministry  to  the  community?  The  gifts  and  loans 
from  the  Board  of  Church  Extension  make  this 
possible.  Their  help  inspires  confidence  and  stimu- 
lates to  heroic  giving  in  the  nucleus  gathered  for 
the  new  organization.  Their  aid  has  been  the 
mighty  power  back  of  the  self-denial  of  the  mis- 
sion that  has  developed  many  of  our  churches  of 
influence  to-day.  Our  gifts  should  abound  toward 
this  beneficent  agency  until  a  Lutheran  Church 
worthy  of  the  community  is  erected  in  every  one 
of  our  rapidly-growing  suburbs  across  the  conti- 
nent. 

In  the  not  distant  future  the  churches  whose  in- 
fluence will  set  the  pace  for  the  Christian  public  and 
whose  ideals  will  inspire  the  world,  will  be  chiefly 
suburban.     They  will  not  occupy  the  largest  place 


WORK    IN    THE    SUBURBS.  385 

in  the  newspai>ers,  but  they  will  in  the  cash  books 
of  all  our  Boards  and  benevolent  societies.  They 
will  not  attract  most  attention,  but  will  most  vitally 
and  righteously  affect  society.  The  suburban 
church  will  not  only  be  the  salvation  of  vast  popu- 
lations, but  it  will  soon  become  a  center  to  reach 
the  growing  adjacent  communities,  and  they  will 
help  solve  the  problems  of  the  evangelization  of  the 
congested  districts  of  our  great  cities.  The  suburb 
is  the  most  important  factor  to-day  in  the  general 
religious  problem  presented  to  the  Church  for  solu- 
tion. 

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